System and method of confirming standard compliance for at least one agricultural product

ABSTRACT

A method and associated system for confirming standard compliance for at least one agricultural product using an agricultural pedigree for each agricultural product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/874,699, filed on Jan. 18, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/500,237, filed on Jun. 12, 2012, which isa national stage entry of International Patent Application No.PCT/US2011/054689, filed on Oct. 4, 2011, which claims the benefit ofpriority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/389,851, filed onOct. 5, 2010, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to the field of agriculture,and more particularly to a system and method for coordinatinginformation relating to the production and tracking of agriculturalproducts and any by-products thereof. The present invention is alsodirected to utilizing such information for confirming standardcompliance for at least one agricultural product using an agriculturalpedigree for each agricultural product, among other purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines “symphonic” in one of itsdefinitions as “suggestive of a symphony especially in form,interweaving of themes or harmonious arrangement.” Usually, a symphonyis comprised of several sections of instruments, each with its owncharacteristics and attributes. During a typical warm up session, eachmember of each section often plays their own individual warm uproutines, and resulting cacophony is most discordant and unpleasant. Butwith a tap of a baton, the orchestra conductor coordinates theindividuals and the sections, to produce quite the opposite result. Inmany ways, current global food/agricultural products production is in astate similar to that of a symphony in its warm up session, awaiting andin need of the presence of the orchestra conductor. The presentinvention is directed to addressing that need.

In some instances below, the following discussion will focus on theproduction of specific agricultural crops for simplicity. It is to beunderstood that this is simply a mechanism to facilitate description ofthe present invention in a manner that is easy to understand. Thepresent invention is not so limited as is pointed out below. Similarly,while the discussion below may focus on the production of agriculturalproducts from seeds, the invention is equally not so limited andincludes all forms of agricultural product production, whether from seedor other starting material, and is not limited to plant-basedagricultural products, but includes for example, meat, poultry, fish,but the invention certainly is not so limited. For the avoidance ofdoubt, the term agricultural product as used herein includes all ofthese and any other agricultural products used for any purpose,including but not limited to food, clothing, medicine or any otherpurpose.

In the current state of global food/agricultural product production,there are conceptually speaking, at least two items being harvested fromany field where such crops are grown. First, of course, are the cropsthemselves. Secondly, and equally importantly in the current world, isthe need to harvest information relating to the crop itself. Theinformation associated with the agricultural product that may becollected is substantial indeed. For example, with regard to seed basedagricultural products, it includes but is not limited to, informationrelating to the location of planting, the timing of planting, thevariety being planted. Where, when and how the seeds were produced,transported and stored? Was it genetically modified? Were the seedstreated or coated in any way? If so, with what and when? How and whenwere the seeds planted? What kind of soil? How deep? How much water wasapplied? Were any insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilizersand/or any other active or inactive ingredients used before, during orsoon after planting? If so, what and when and how much of such materialswere applied? If any such materials were used, were they applied infurrow, foliarly, post emergence, pre-emergence or combinations thereof?Was such material applied as drench, drip or spray? What this in agreenhouse, a field or other location? If a field, was the field fencedoff or otherwise protected in any manner for any purpose, such as butnot limited to pest control for example by preventing infestation bydeer, mice, insects, fungi, etc. What were the weather conditions duringthe growth cycle? How much rain? When? What daytime temperatures? Whatnight time temperatures? Were any materials applied post-harvest, suchas in storage facilities or to coat/treat the harvested food product forlong term storage, appealing looks or other reasons?

After harvest, a similar set of information applies to the entirety ofthe collection and distribution steps. For example: who transported thecrop? When was it picked up at the farm? What path did it take in itsdistribution to the final consumer? How was it packaged? In what type ofvehicle or other transportation device was it transported? Was it storedanywhere in its distribution? Was it treated in any manner during itsharvesting, packaging, and/or distribution? If stored, where? How long?Under what conditions? When was it shipped? When did it arrive? When itleft the farm, did it go directly to a consumer or a food processor oran international shipper or other destination? Was it inspected orgraded by any governmental or other agencies during its production anddistribution, and if so, what agencies, when and what were the results?

The foregoing is illustrative only, and the nature, form and amount ofinformation that is relevant to the planting, harvest, sale,transportation and final disposition of the crop varies greatly and isoften quite large and is growing in size and complexity, in part becauseexpanding technology is capturing more and more information in ourworld, leading to the result that the information is becoming of greatvalue, in some cases, as valuable as the crop itself. In short, theinformation starting with the agricultural product's entire pedigree interms of its history of development and preparation for planting,through the entire growth cycle, through harvest, distribution,processing where applicable, and end user consumption are replete withvolumes of useful and necessary information/data.

The reasons for and/or entities desiring access to such data collectionare equally numerous and vary with a wide variety of interestedparticipants. Outbreaks of diseases, which can be dangerous or evenfatal in nature, such as E coli etc, can set up the need to be able totrace the production of an agricultural product to find the source ofinfection. Indeed, attempts have been made to pass food safetylegislation directed to such matters. And regulatory bodies such as theUS EPA, and/or food protection agencies such as the US FDA and/or USDAmay demand such information. Consumers with certainpreferences/ideologies, whether secular or religious for example,relating to the manner in which food is produced may want to know theagricultural product's history/pedigree to confirm that it comports withtheir beliefs/desires/traditions. Consumer's with preferences/ideologiescompletely unrelated to the food itself may have an interest in knowingits pedigree, as for example, consumers or others interested inpreserving energy may want to know how much energy was expended inproducing the agricultural product and/or was it done in a “sustainable”fashion, was it grown with a minimal carbon footprint, minimal waterusage or other factors related to sustainability. Sustainability heremay include or as a separate matter, the efficiency of conversion of theagricultural product to produce energy (e.g. use as a biodiesel orethanol based product) or even the efficiency of converting theagricultural product into human energy, e.g. calories, may beconsidered. Other entities, such as large retail distributors, are alsooften equally as interested in such information, with a desire topromote sales of their goods by purchasing them from growers expendingthe least energy and maintaining a “sustainable” method to produce theagricultural product. Exporters and governmental units overseeing theexportation and/or importation in the US and other countries also desireto know such information to determine if the agricultural product meets,for example, sanitary, phyto-sanitary and MRL standards for a companyimporting such agricultural products. MRL stands for “maximum residuelevel” and means the highest residue level permitted, (and usuallydetermined by a governmental agency appointed to regulate such mattersin a given country or state), of an active ingredient on a treatedcommodity or crop. Failure to meet the MRL standard set by the importingcountry will mean the agricultural product will be refused entry intothat market, and in such cases, there may not be enough time to divertthe agricultural product to an accepting country before the agriculturalproduct is lost, depending upon the timing and nature of theagricultural product. Also included is information relation to theagricultural product's shelf life or other storage or “use by” dates,directions, recommendations or procedures. Still further is includedinformation relating to cooking, preparing, blending and/or otherwiseprocessing the agricultural product if processing of it is involved.

These are only some of the types of information being generated from thefield/farm/fishery/range or other location where the agriculturalproduct is being produced and are only some of those who are interestedin such information spanning production and distribution of theagricultural product, such as, in the case of a seed based agriculturalproduct for example, from the time of seed creation through consumptionby the end user/consumer. A detailed list of either the informationand/or those who would make use of such information would be virtuallylimitless.

Efforts have been made to track discreet packets of such information.For example, today's modern tractor is a technological wonder, havingthe ability to guide itself with GPS and provide its crop and/or cropinputs and chemicals almost without, and in some cases, fully without,the need for an operator on board. Equally impressive are the systemsaboard such tractors to track when and where the tractor was used, andwhat it was planting, harvesting, spraying or otherwise doing when itwas utilized in the course of the production of the agriculturalproduct. Further, systems are known that are associated with suchtractors and/or farm equipment to collect that information and provideit to a recipient, such as a grower, often involving computers andcommunication devices to transmit and receive such data. Satellitetechnology too grows rapidly each day in its sophistication andcapability and can or will soon measure parameters such as insectstress, fungal stress, drought stress, soil moisture, soil pH, mineralcontent, nitrogen content (e.g. to provide a plan for variable ratefertilization for example), growth rates, yields, actual and projected,among others. And detecting any such parameters, satellites can turn onor off equipment, such as irrigation systems, in response to what thesatellite has observed. Indeed, such a satellite can convey itsinformation directly to its technological partner, the tractor, and caninstruct the tractor what to apply when and where to the field and/orwhen to harvest or otherwise act upon the agricultural product foroptimum results. And with global positioning technology and timingdevices, the tractor will know where, where and how to conduct suchtreatment, and can even do so fully automatically without humanintervention. Control of a field, for a field based agriculturalproduct, at levels, or even micro-levels heretofore unknown are possiblewith modern satellite technology. Precision agricultural practices, nonstop over, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year are possiblewith such technology.

Similarly, for the production, harvest, storage, transportation and/orprocessing stages to the end user/consumer, there are methods at eachstep in the process of producing the agricultural product that collectcertain portions/packets of information. But just as a symphony in warmup session, these separated, uncoordinated independent sources of dataoperate without harmony, and there remains a long and deep-felt need inthe industry for a method and/or system that can “tap the baton” tocoordinate this data in a fashion that is usable all along the chainfrom its early stages of production of the agricultural product, as forexample with a seed-based agricultural product, from seed production,through planting and growth, through harvest, storage, distribution,processing where applicable and final consumption. It is also desiredthat such a system/method be easily accessible and easily used by someor all of those who have need of its information.

The present invention is directed to fulfilling these and other needs,and is described below. It is an object of the present invention toaddress the deficiencies of the prior art discussed above and to providea system and method of providing agricultural pedigree for agriculturalproducts throughout production and distribution and use of the same for,among other purposes, communication, real time decision making,predictive modeling, risk sharing and/or sustainable agriculturepurposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The various embodiments and examples of the present invention aspresented herein are understood to be illustrative of the presentinvention and not restrictive thereof and are non-limiting with respectto the scope of the invention.

Within the meaning of this specification Agriculture is the cultivationof plants and animals for food, fiber and other useful products; andTraceability with regard to agricultural products is the ability totrack agricultural products throughout the entirety of the productionand distribution chain. One description of traceability of agriculturalproducts is the ability to track the products from starting materials toend uses, as for example with seed-based agricultural products, from thecreation of the seeds, through their planting, growing, harvesting ofthe crop, through its distribution directly or indirectly (e.g. throughfood processors, shippers and the like), to the end customers/consumers.The Merriam Webster Free On-line Dictionary defines “pedigree” as theorigin and history of something. Additionally, within the meaning ofthis specification Agricultural Pedigree refers to the origin andhistory of an agricultural product, from its earliest of stages ofcreation of its starting materials (e.g. for seed-based agriculturalproducts it would be the creation of the seeds, for example) through itsproduction, harvest, distribution and final consumption, and may beconsidered a record of some or all of the inputs, treatments andprocesses performed on or to a given agricultural product in itsproduction and distribution, some or all of which may be selected and/ordefined by one or more entities making use in one or more ways of suchAgricultural Pedigree.

Within the meaning of this specification, Sustainable Agriculture may bedefined as “an integrated system of plant and animal productionpractices that will last over the long term and will: satisfy human foodand fiber needs; make the most efficient use of non-renewable andon-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biologicalcycles and controls; sustain the economic viability of farm operations;and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”Alternatively Sustainable Agriculture can be broadly described as thepractice of farming using principles of ecology, the study ofrelationships between organisms and their environment. SustainableAgriculture in the United States was addressed by the 1990 farm bill.More recently, as consumer and retail demand for sustainable productshas risen, organizations such as Food Alliance and Protected Harvesthave started to provide measurement standards and certification programsfor what constitutes a sustainably grown crop.

Within the meaning of this specification an open communication networkrepresents a network that can be accessed by additional devices cominginto or onto the network, such as the internet. Alternatively a widearea network or (WAN) could form an open communication network withinthe meaning of this application, wherein a WAN is a telecommunicationnetwork that covers a broad area (e.g., any network that links acrossmetropolitan, regional, or national boundaries). For example, businessand government entities often utilize WANs to relay data amongemployees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographicallocations. Additionally a collection of interconnected Local AreaNetworks (LANs) could form an open communication network within themeaning of this application where one or more of the LANs can beaccessed by additional devices coming into or onto the interconnectednetworks. With the rapid rate of advancement of science and technologyin this area it is very difficult to predict all of the permutations ofan open communications network that may come into being during the termof this patent, but nonetheless such devices are within the scope ofthis invention if they are capable of performing the functions describedherein with regard to the open communication network of the presentinvention.

Within the meaning of this specification decision support system or DSSis a computer-based information system that supports individual,organizational, or other decision making activities. DSSs often servethe management, operations, and planning levels of an organization andhelp to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easilyspecified in advance. DSSs include knowledge-based systems. In oneembodiment, a properly designed DSS is an interactive software-basedsystem intended to help decision makers compile useful information froma combination of raw data, documents, personal knowledge, or businessmodels to identify and solve problems and make decisions. Within thisapplication a real time decision making tool is a communication anddata-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS which emphasizes access to andmanipulation of a time series or history of data to the date of thedecision. Within this application a predictive modeling tool is amodel-driven DSS which utilizes and emphasizes access to andmanipulation of a statistical, financial, optimization, or othersimulation model to enable decision makers to evaluate alternativedecision making scenarios and to predict, and, optionally, compare, rankor otherwise examine and consider and/or manipulate such scenarios.

Within the meaning of this specification, in its broadest sense aninformation storage device references a device capable of storinginformation and/or data, without limitation to its particular designcomponents and regardless of how or on what media the information isstored. It is preferred that the information storage device is capableof retrieval and other manipulation of the information it is storing.With the rapid rate of advancement of science and technology in thisarea it is very difficult to predict all of the permutations ofinformation storage devices that may come into being during the term ofthis patent, but nonetheless such devices are within the scope of thisinvention if they are capable of performing the functions describedherein with regard to the information storage device of the presentinvention. Presently, in one embodiment, the information storage devicecan be an electronic data storage device to store and retrieve thatdata, such as a computer data storage device. Data may be stored ineither an analog or digital format on a variety of media, and theparticular media is not limiting to the present invention.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for establishing an agricultural pedigree for at least oneagricultural product comprises the steps of: (a) Providing an opencommunication network accessible information storage device adapted toreceive input of data relating to agricultural product production anddistribution speaking generally, or more particularly, relating to atleast one of the agricultural product's production, harvesting,distribution, processing and consumption, from at least one andpreferably multiple sources; (b) Inputting said data into saidinformation storage device; (c) Storing said data; and (d) Providingaccess to at least a portion of said data via the open communicationnetwork, wherein the information storage device is configured to be usedas at least one of: (i) A tool for traceability of the agriculturalproducts, (ii) A tool for establishing the agricultural pedigree of theagricultural product, (iii) A real time decision making tool, and (iv) Apredictive modeling tool.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, asystem for establishing an agricultural pedigree for at least oneagricultural product comprises an open communication network accessibleinformation storage device adapted to receive input of data relating toat least one of the agricultural product's production, harvesting,distribution, processing and consumption, from at least one andpreferably from multiple sources, wherein the information storage deviceis configured to be used as at least one of: i) A tool for traceabilityof the agricultural product, ii) A tool for establishing theagricultural pedigree of the agricultural product, iii) A real timedecision making tool, and iv) A predictive modeling tool.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for establishing an agricultural pedigree for at least oneagricultural product comprises the steps of: a) Providing an opencommunication network accessible information storage device adapted toreceive input of data relating to at least one of the agriculturalproduct's production, harvesting, distribution, processing andconsumption, from at least one and preferably from multiple sources; b)Inputting one or more contemporaneous inputs into the informationstorage system over time throughout at least one of the production,harvesting, distribution, processing and consumption of the agriculturalproduct; c) Storing said data; and d) Providing access to at least aportion of said data via the open communication network.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, anagricultural pedigree system for at least one agricultural productcomprises an open communication network accessible information storagedevice adapted to receive input of data relating to at least one of theagricultural product's production, harvesting, distribution, processingand consumption, from at least one and preferably from multiple sourcesand configured for one or more contemporaneous inputs into theinformation storage device over time throughout at least one of theproduction, harvesting, distribution, processing and consumption of theagricultural product.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for establishing an agricultural pedigree for at least oneagricultural product comprises the steps of: a) Providing an informationstorage device adapted to receive input of data relating to at least oneof the agricultural product's production, harvesting, distribution,processing and consumption; b) Inputting through a computerizedinterview process data into the information storage device; c) Storingsaid data; and d) Providing access to at least a portion of the data.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for establishing an agricultural pedigree for at least oneagricultural product comprises the steps of: a) Providing an informationstorage device adapted to receive input of data relating to at least oneof the agricultural product's production, harvesting, distribution,processing and consumption; b) Inputting data into the informationstorage device; c) Storing said data; d) Providing access to at least aportion of the data; and e) Evaluating compliance of the agriculturalproduct with preexisting standards in accordance with predefinedstandard requirements.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, anagricultural pedigree system for at least one agricultural productcomprises an open communication network accessible information storagedevice adapted to receive input of data relating to at least one of theagricultural product's production, harvesting, distribution, processingand consumption, from at least one and preferably from multiple sourcesand configured for evaluating compliance of the agricultural productwith preexisting standards in accordance with predefined standardrequirements.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, asystem coordinating at least one of the harvesting, packaging,transporting, processing, distribution and consumption of at least oneagricultural product comprises an open communication network accessibleinformation storage device adapted to receive input of data relating toagricultural product production and distribution from at least one, andpreferably from multiple sources, wherein the information storage deviceis configured to be accessed by at least one of: a an agriculturalproduct producer, harvester, packager, transporter, processor,distributor and consumer, and communication between at least two of saidproducer, said harvester, said packager, said transporter, saidprocessor, said distributor and said consumer.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for coordinating the harvesting, packaging, transporting,processing and distribution of at least one agricultural productcomprises the steps of: a) Providing an open communication networkaccessible information storage device adapted to receive input of datarelating to agricultural product production and distribution frommultiple sources; b) Inputting said data into said information storagedevice; c) Storing said data; d) Providing access to the informationstorage system to at least one of: a producer, a harvester, a packager,a transporter, a processor, a distributor and a consumer; and e)providing communication over said open communication network between atleast two of said producer, said harvester, said packager, saidtransporter, said processor, said distributor and said consumer.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, asystem for establishing an agricultural pedigree for agriculturalproducts comprises an open communication network accessible informationstorage device adapted to receive input of data relating to agriculturalproduct production and distribution from multiple sources, wherein theinformation storage device is configured to be used as at least one of areal time decision making tool and a predictive modeling tool.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for establishing an agricultural pedigree for agriculturalproducts comprises the steps of: a) Providing an open communicationnetwork accessible information storage device adapted to receive inputof data relating to agricultural product production and distributionfrom multiple sources; b) Inputting said data into said informationstorage device; c) Storing and said data; and d) Providing access tosaid data via the open communication network, wherein the informationstorage device is configured to be used as at least one of a real timedecision making tool and a predictive modeling tool.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for providing traceability of at least one agricultural productcomprises: providing an open communication network accessibleinformation storage device adapted to receive input of data relatinggenerally to agricultural product production and distribution and moreparticularly to the agricultural product's production, harvesting,distribution, processing and consumption, from at least one andpreferably from multiple sources; inputting said data into saidinformation storage device; storing said data; and providing access toat least a portion of said data via the open communication network,wherein the information storage device is configured to be used as atool for traceability of the agricultural product, wherein the userdefines a grid designation unit of the agricultural product's source.The user defined grid designation unit can be user defined by latitudeand longitude coordinates, by graphical user interface, by satellite orother mapping technology or combinations thereof, or any othertechnology that allows the user to select a user defined griddesignation unit.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for pesticide distribution, and still more preferably forvariable pesticide distribution for at least one agricultural product ona grower's field comprises: providing at least one user defined griddesignation unit for all or a portion of the grower's field, determiningfor the grid designation unit the pesticide requirements based uponhistorical data, real time data, predictive modeling or combinationsthereof communicating said pesticidal requirements to a pesticidalapplicator, and applying pesticide compounds to the grid designation inaccordance with said pesticidal requirements. The methods and/orequipment that may be employed for determining the pesticiderequirements can include, but are not limited to visual identifications,physical sampling and/or testing, aerial observations, satelliteobservations, sensors present on or around or otherwise in proximity tothe field, and combinations thereof. The user defined grid designationunit can be user defined by latitude and longitude coordinates, bygraphical user interface, by satellite or other mapping technology orcombinations thereof, or any other technology that allows the user toselect a user defined grid designation unit.

According to one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, amethod for harvesting at least one agricultural product, and still morepreferably for variable harvesting of said at least one agriculturalproduct comprises: providing an open communication network accessibleinformation storage device adapted to receive input of data relatinggenerally to agricultural product production and distribution, and moreparticularly to the agricultural product's production, harvesting,distribution, processing and consumption, from at least one andpreferably from multiple sources; inputting said data into saidinformation storage device; storing said data; providing access to atleast a portion of said data via the open communication network, whereinthe information storage device is configured to provide for at least oneuser definable grid designation unit for the grower's field; maintainingan Agricultural Pedigree for the agricultural product being grown on thegrower's field in the grid designation unit, and selectively harvestingthe field based upon distinctions in the Agricultural Pedigree withinthe grid designation unit, distinctions between a plurality of griddesignation units and combinations thereof. The user defined griddesignation unit can be user defined by latitude and longitudecoordinates, by graphical user interface, by satellite or other mappingtechnology or combinations thereof, or any other technology that allowsthe user to select a user defined grid designation unit.

These and other advantages of the present invention will be clarified inthe description of the preferred embodiments taken together with theattached figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is schematic representation of selected “input” sources of datarelating to agricultural product production and/or distribution forinput into the information storage device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of selected “output”recipients/users of said data input in FIG. 1 , prior to or subsequentto manipulation of said data by said information storage device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a series of users of the systemof the present invention in a chain of agricultural product production.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in some instances connectionwith agricultural products in the form of cultivating crops on a typicalfarm and seeing them through to final consumption by an enduser/consumer, and in particular, in some instances, the production ofcorn on a typical farm and its distribution to a final end user/consumerwill be focused upon in order to provide a working example of thepresent invention. However, is reiterated and it is to be clearlyunderstood that the present invention is not so limited, and the presentinvention applies to all forms of agricultural product production,whether the agricultural product is animal (e.g. livestock, fish,poultry, dairy etc), or plant, (e.g. corn, rice, soy, etc), and whetherit is produced for a food or a non-food use such as but not limited toclothing, medicine or any other use. Thus, included within, but notlimiting to the scope of the present invention are the production ofagricultural crops which are food based (e.g., meats, fish, fowl,poultry, and/or dairy production and/or any consumable products producedeither as a by-product (leather) or direct product, for example eggs, ofany “farm” operations, and non-food based agricultural products (e.g.cotton for textiles or corn grown for making ethanol).

Still further, included within the scope of the present invention arefarming or growing operations directed to producing ornamental shrubs,flowers and other plants, including but not limited to pine tree orother similar applications. In short, the present invention applieswherever an agricultural product is produced, and there is a need forsome or all of the information relating to its agricultural pedigree.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , there is shown a schematic representation ofone embodiment of the system of the present invention. In the center isshown information storage device 2, which takes a central role in thepresent invention, and may be part of a computer. Information, primarilyin the form of data, coming from numerous sources, is collected and atthe very least, stored in device 2. The data may be inputted into device2 manually or automatically as discussed in more detail below.

Preferably, when the device 2 is fully or partially populated with data,the data therein may be manipulated via the computer of the device 2.“Manipulated” means that the data may be organized for display tocoordinate various pieces of the data, or it can be more fundamentallymanipulated, as for example, to be used in predictive and/or probabilitymodeling to anticipate future events. As discussed below the device 2may include a manipulation of the obtained data to use in a predictivemodeling program to form a predictive modeling tool, which as notedabove is a model-driven DSS. Predictive modeling has been envisaged as“organized thinking about the possible”. For this purpose, dynamicpredictive models of the state-variable approach are important toolswhich combine basic knowledge on the physical, chemical andphysiological processes that underlie crop growth and agriculturalproduction. One dynamic predictive model type is a “comprehensive model”that is designed to integrate all aspects of growth and to focusattention on the main gaps in present operational knowledge of the cropor agricultural product production. Another example of predictive modelsare known as “summarizing models” that are especially geared to answer‘what-if’ questions and are used for evaluating regional or areaproduction potentials and constraints, for irrigation management andintegrated control of pests, diseases and weeds. Examples of some ofthese types of models may be known in the art. The present invention mayinclude the design of new models or may implement these models and, ineither case, operates to populate the various parameters with relevantdata. Further, the present invention is believed to allow for far moreextensive and accurate models to be developed, or refined, in light ofthe increase in the available information, and its “symphonic”orchestration that is available with the implementation of the presentinvention. It should be clear that predictive modeling generally alsowill include the “optimal use” of inputs. Many inputs are known andgiven such as, often, fuel costs, energy, fertilizer, labor, commodityprices, etc. However, many are variable such as land, seeds and traits,varieties, chemicals, etc. The predictive modeling often addresses thequestion of: What is the right mix, of inputs, for a selected desiredoutcome? For example, predictive models address issues such as if anoperator rents more land does he or she need more equipment, labor,etc.; or what commodity should an operator grow to maximize profit(given that a known collection or predictive range of all the inputs andcosts associated with growing that commodity); or what will thisproposed change do to an operator's carbon footprint and carbon credits(e.g., part of the profit may be in selling carbon credits). As may beappreciated, the increase in available information with the presentinvention, and its aggregation and “symphonic” orchestration allows forpredictive modeling of a heretofore unknown range and/or accuracy.

Returning to the overview of the invention, the data inputted into thedevice 2 may include largely historic information relating to what cropwas harvested and in what amount, in what region of the country/globe,and such data might include the costs to produce the crop includinglabor/fuel/energy/any and all existing leases/fertilizer/seed/chemicaland other data related to the crop's production.

In terms of manipulation, this data may be linked with a real timedecision making tool in the computer of the device 2, which as notedabove is a communication and data-driven DSS or data-oriented DSS whichemphasizes access to and manipulation of a time series or history ofdata to the date of the decision. For example weather data, general cropproduction data, current fuel pricing data, commodity pricing data forresources and for that crop, or any other relevant data to estimate howmuch that particular portion of harvested crop might be expected togenerate yield and in gross sales for the grower, and with furthermanipulation to deduct from that figure the costs to the grower toproduce, store any crop for future use and transport that crop from thefarm for further distribution, thereby providing the grower with areliable calculation as to how much profit this particularly harvestedcrop generated for the grower. It could also estimate how much cropshould be stored for future sale and/or use. The real time decisionmaking tool can be used for calculating and notifying the user regardingtime sensitive matters, such as when irrigation, fertilizing, pestcontrol, harvesting or the like is required at select crop portions.

It is an important aspect of the present invention that manipulation ofthe data may be done with both the real time decision making tool thatis essentially calculating results based upon inputs to date, and thepredictive modeling tool providing predictive results based uponsimulation models. For example, predictive information such as predictedweather patterns and/or regional, national or global estimated cropproduction figures for the following year and which varieties of cropsdemonstrated the greatest yields in a given growing region, will allowthe grower to assess, for example, how much of his or her farm should bedevoted to which crops, and even which varieties, to maximize profitsfor the following year. Such predictive modeling may also take intoconsideration, aerial, satellite or other imaging, which imaging oftencontains additional data such as properties of the soil, quantity ofcrop being grown, and the levels in those crops of chlorophyll, variousminerals, moisture, acidity, and other indicators of quality orquantity. When combined with the former data, can be used to actuallypredict for the grower not only which crops will maximize profits, butactually where on the farm they should be planted in connection withsuch imaging technology. The output can be coupled with graphic softwareand/or other means, for example, to provide the grower with detectingspecific diseases in annual and/or perennial crops facilitating thecreation of decision planning maps for his or her farm. Still further,the results of such predictive modeling simulations can be fed into thecomputers and/or storage device of modern farm equipment, so that muchif not all of the information necessary to implement the mapped plan canbe already input into the said equipments computer and/or storagedevice.

It is important to observe, that such predictive modeling willpreferably allow the grower to self-manipulate several variablesrelating to the above information. In this way, a given grower can askhimself or herself, “what if” questions such as the following. What if Ichange crops next year to another crop—what profit might I expect withthe new crop? What if I leased another 500 acres at “x” dollars, howmuch profit will I have once I pay my leaser? What additional ordifferent equipment might I have to buy, lease or rent to be asefficient as possible with such new crop. What if my fertilizer costincreases by 5% next year? And device 2, populated with the requisitedata and predictive modeling tool, will run the associated simulationand provide predictive answers to such questions.

It is also important to note that the present invention providesbenefits beyond those relating to production, profitability, andpredictive modeling of “what if” scenarios. Both for an existing growingseason or for a growing season to come, such predictive modeling canassist the grower in other ways. Notably for example, currently a growerseeks financing which is often provided based upon past performance bythe grower, often performance over the last 3 years where available.While that is likely to remain an important method of analysis, thepredictive modeling of the present invention provides a very useful toolto predict yields and profitability of existing crops and potentialfuture crops (excluding of course any unforeseen catastrophic events),and armed with this predictive modeling, the grower may well securefinancing or credit from lenders (for any purposes, including farmproduction or personal expenses and the like) such as banks or even seedor chemical production companies or even farm equipment manufacturingcompanies. The system becomes a risk reducing tool for the lender as itis a verifiable assessment of the proposed agricultural plan upon whichrecourses are to be lent. While predictive modeling does not result in acertainty of future performance, it does provide arguably a morereliable methodology than had been used in the past in connection withlending/credit. The mortgage banking crisis experienced of the last fewyears where credit decisions were made apparently, with little or nosupporting data or analysis, highlights the need for a verifiableassessment of a proposed agricultural plan. So the use of thispredictive modeling in connection with financing is not a completelyabstract idea.

In short then, as may be appreciated, the manipulation of the data canbe profound, even at the grower level.

As may be seen in FIG. 1 , the current production of crops is often nolonger a one or two person matter of purchasing seeds, planting them,growing them and harvesting the crop. What may have once long ago beenlargely a solo act or a combo of a few players in the realm of foodproduction has grown to a full ensemble comprised of many individualplayers with greatly differing roles that are grouped into sections,which sections have joined to form the orchestra of today's foodproduction system. The system of the present invention is designed toseamlessly integrate data from these disparate sources resulting in asystem and method of providing agricultural pedigree for agriculturalproducts throughout production and distribution and provide for the useof the same for sustainable agriculture and provide the use of the samefor communication, real time decision making, predictive modeling andrisk sharing.

For example, referring again to FIG. 1 , there will be seen a schematicrepresentation of selected “sections” (to borrow that musicalterminology in connection with describing the present invention) intoday's food production “orchestra”, (to again borrow that musicalterminology in connection with describing the present invention). FIG. 1describes the present invention in the context of a seeds-based cropagricultural product for ease of description, but as pointed out abovethe present invention is not so limited and applies to all agriculturalproducts as discussed fully above. By way of example then, illustratedin FIG. 1 is seeds and traits section 4, plantings/growing section 6,weather section 8, satellite and aerial section 10, harvest section 12,on farm storage section 14, transportation section 16, off farm storagesection 18, food processor section 20, government section 21, retailsale, distribution and export section 22, consumption section 24, carbonfootprint section 26 and technology section 28. The sections illustratedin FIG. 1 are somewhat arbitrarily identified, and other sections maycertainly be added or the illustrated sections may be divided and/orsubdivided and/or defined in differing ways and all remain within thescope of the intent of the present invention. The important point isthat today's food production is a complicated and complex operation,involving numerous different participants and all must work together forthe system to operate, and each generates and consumes differentinformation from others involved in that process.

The data/information associated with the seeds and traits section 4 maybe quite substantial in and of itself. For example, if the crop is corn,it is no longer sufficient to simply note the variety being planted.Varieties may include genetic modification (which may be comprised ofsingular or stacked genetic events) and if so, this fact and whatmodifications are data to be collected. Such genetic modification mayinclude but is not limited modifications that allow the corn to haveresistance to certain herbicides, to have certain insect resistance, towithstand certain growing conditions such as heat or drought or anycombinations thereof. Still further, the seeds themselves may be treatedwith any number of coatings, which may include active compounds such asfungicides, herbicides, insecticides, biological/bacterial agents,living beneficial agents and the like, or inactive compounds such astalc or polymeric coatings that can perform a number of functions, suchas improving the plantability of the seeds. All of this represents datato be inputted into device 2. The data from the seeds and traits section4 is typically held by different individual entities. For example, it isoften the case that the breeders developing the traits provide theirseeds to a different entity for coating, and the data relating tomaterials that are being coated onto the seeds, e.g. insecticides,fungicides, biological/bacterial agents, living beneficial agents andthe like, may be held by the chemical company/ies that producedcompounds. Thus, separate individual entities, much like individualmusicians within a given section of an orchestra, hold differentinformation in the seeds and traits section 4, and the data from theseindividual players can be input into device 2. As the present inventionhas been illustrated in association with the farmer or grower, thefarmer's use of the device 2 will be to obtain this informationpreferably from the seed breeders and distributers with the purchase ofthe seeds. It is anticipated that the seed breeders will have their owncommunication to device 2 and their associated data may be transferredautomatically via an internet or other connection over the opencommunication network. The data can be inputted manually or transferredvia another storage device such as a USB port memory stick or otherinformation storage device. All of the relevant data associated with theseeds sufficient to maintain an accurate agricultural pedigree for thecrops is transferred to the device 2. In alternative embodiment of thepresent invention, the farmer or grower might have his or her own device2 for capturing information relevant to that farmer or grower's portionof the production of the agricultural product, and the seed breeder maysimilarly have his or her own device 2 for capturing informationrelevant to the seed breeder's portion of the production of theagricultural product, and the two respective devices 2's could be incommunication with each other over the open communication network. Inthis embodiment then, the device 2 may then be a collection of severaldevices 2 aggregated from several individual players or groups ofplayers or sections, all in communication with one another over the opencommunication network. One advantage though of the single device 2embodiment is that all information is stored within the single device,and changes/modification/additions etc are, arguably, somewhatsimplified by virtue of the single device 2 in one location. In yetanother embodiment of the present invention there is a combination ofone or more discreet device 2's and a major hub device 2, representing ahybrid of the two previously described embodiments. In practice thedevice 2, or selected features of the device, may be offered tocustomers formed by the individual players under Software as a Service(SaaS) model over the open network, sometimes referred to as “on-demandsoftware.” The SaaS model is a software delivery model in which softwareand its associated data are hosted centrally (often in the (Internet)cloud) and are typically accessed by users (farmers, distributers, seedbreeders, etc) using a “thin client”, normally using a web browser overthe Internet.

The SaaS model supports application customization by the industryplayers. In other words an industry player can alter the set ofconfiguration options (a.k.a., parameters) that affect the endfunctionality and look-and-feel. Each customer may have its own settings(or: parameter values) for the configuration options. The applicationcan be customized to the degree it was designed for based on a set ofpredefined configuration options. Further the SaaS model allows foreasier, generally more frequent system updates.

Continuing further with FIG. 1 , there is shown plantings/growingsection 6. Where for example the crop is corn, when the corn wasplanted, where it was planted and how it was treated during its growthwith fungicides, insecticides, herbicides, biological/bacterial agents,living beneficial agents and the like all form data that is necessary tolink to the harvesting of that crop. It is here that today's modern farmequipment can form an important mechanism for capturing such informationand automatically downloading the relevant data to the device 2. Though,of course, such information can be entered into the device 2 manually tothe extent it is available that way. However, with the modern farmequipment linked via computer to the Internet and/or with satellites orother forms of communication, including for example, onboard globalpositioning technology and the like, such farm equipment are capable ofautomatically collecting enormous amounts of data relating to theplanting and growing of the corn crop. This data includes for example,but certainly is not limited to, data relating to the date/time ofplanting, of which crop, where in the field, whether any activeingredients or other materials were including during planting, thedensity of planting, the depth of planting. Following on, as the corncrop is grown, each time the tractor is involved, for example withirrigation or spraying the field with various materials, such data canbe collected by the tractor and/or any associated farm equipment andautomatically input into device 2. Consider, where the material beingapplied is for example, is an insecticide in response to an observedinsect pressure, the data relating to the observed insect pressure, suchas the type and number of insects, is data that can be collected andinput into the device 2. Consider, for example that a modern tractor maybe outfitted with a mobile metering device on board and a mobileN-sensor (nitrogen sensor) that measures the nutrient content of theplants in real time and quickly calculates how much fertilizer is neededand the sprayer on the back of the tractor sprays the correct dose ofnitrogen fertilizer onto each “segment” of the field. The system 2collects this location specific information from this high tech deliverysystem. In some cases, the material being applied may be being applieditself in response to predictive modeling, for example, where predictivemodeling of insect migrations or drought patterns formed the basis forapplying an insecticide or water to the corn crop, the data relating tosuch predictive modeling can be inputted into device 2 as well as thedata relating to the application of the insecticide and/or water itself.Such predictive modeling may be used in the context of the presentinvention to manipulate other devices as well. For example, predictivemodeling can be used in the planning and guiding of automated pruningmachinery used in some crops to remove and thin portions of the crop orthe material upon which it grows. In short, such predictive modeling canbe used with any automated or robotic system. As will be appreciated bythose skilled in the agricultural arts, this is also true of anyhistoric pre-manipulation data stored in device 2.

Yet another example of a source of data is that of weather section 8shown in FIG. 1 . Several entities in the modern era track weatherpatterns. This includes governmental agencies such as the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This includes for-profitentities such as The Weather Channel. And other entities track theweather as well, of course. The tracking of this data and its effect onthe corn crop being harvested in this discussion of the presentinvention has both historic and predictive value for the particular corncrop of a given season, but such data also has substantial predictivevalue when determining for the following year which crops should beplanted where on the farm to provide the greatest profit yield. Thevalue of this information generally grows over time, because the largerdata pool increases the odds that any predictive modeling done with suchdata will be more accurate.

The data of weather section 8, provides an important segue into animportant aspect of the present invention. Data, such as that generatedby weather section 8, can find its way into device 2 from either director indirect paths. In other words, such data may be input directly intodevice 2 by weather section 8. Alternatively, such data may be inputtedindirectly to planting section 6, as for example where the weather datais first sent to the computer of the farm equipment performing theplanting operation, and such weather data is later inputted intocomputer housing device 2 by planting section 6 as part of its uploadingof information into device 2.

Satellite and aerial section 10 represents another such direct/indirectpathway. Satellite and or aerial data itself is very substantial in itsdepth and reach in the modern era. Such data can include weather data,climate data and the like. It can also include global positioning dataand the like. It can include infrared or other measurements, and caneven include soil moisture and other information. Additionally, it caninclude simple pictorial data as well. There are providers who havedeveloped the use of such data to assess the current yield of crops suchas the corn crop of the current discussion, and even to assess thehealth and hardiness in addition to yield or other factors. Some formsof this data can be input into the device 2 directly. Other forms, suchas global positioning, may be first sent to other entities such as theplanting section 6 and/or harvesting section 12 and/or transportationsection 16, for example, to be included with their respective uploadedinformation through their respective pathways into device 2.

Harvest section 12 provides data relating to when and where the crop washarvested, and importantly, the actual yields being realized from theharvest. Today's modern harvesting equipment, having onboard computersystems and sensors, provide real time data during the harvestingoperation itself as to the yield being enjoyed from the harvest. Whencombined with global positioning technology, for example, and/or withplanting density information, it is possible to determine with greataccuracy which portions of the farm have produced the greatest amount ofcorn crop forming the basis of this discussion. In other words, existinghigh technology harvesters combine with GPS to generate a “yield map”for a given field which plots harvest by location. This data in turn canbe manipulated with predictive modeling to predict the most efficientusage of the farm for the following planting season.

On-farm storage section 14 may include additional data, such as when andwhere the crop was stored, how, under what storage conditions and/orweather the crop was treated before, during or after storage with anyprotective or other materials.

Up to this point, the focus of the discussion has generally beendirected to the planting and harvesting operations associated withproducing a crop, even touching upon on-farm storage of a crop such ascorn. As may be appreciated, the data will often vary with the type ofcrop being produced. For example, where the crop is in the vegetablefamily and is picked by hand, the identities of those involved in thepicking process may be useful to know for tracking or other purposes,and there may be several more farm personnel involved in such anoperation than the fewer combine operators usually needed to harvest acorn crop. The common theme here regardless of crop, is that in additionto the harvesting of whatever crop is involved, there is also a wealthof data to be harvested from that field as well.

The harvested crop must be moved from the farm of course. In some cases,this involves simple transportation to an end consumer, such as at afarmer's market and the like. In other circumstances it is moved tolarger storage facilities such as grain operators and the like and/or onto food processors and the like. Thus, referring again to FIG. 1 thereis shown transportation section 16 where data is inputted into thesystem. Regarding the data input from “down-stream” of the distributionchain, the downstream distribution chain information is criticallyimportant to the farmer (or breeder or others upstream in the chain).The farmer has a vested interest in timely getting his crops to theultimate customers in prime condition (not wilted, bruised, contaminatedor the like) and the information from the transportation section 16 ishelpful in tracking this. This information can be used in the real timedecision making tool and predictive modeling tools, as well.

Additionally, it should be noted that the transportation sectionparticipants can, in one embodiment, have their own system according tothe present invention and the farmer's device 2 will automaticallytransmit the relevant information to the shipper's device 2. Theshippers device 2 will likely need only selected pieces of informationfrom the farmer's device 2 that are relevant for the shipper's purposes.For example, a listing of the particular fertilizers, pesticides andinsecticides may be very important for the shipper as part of theagricultural pedigree for the crop, but the shipper has little need forthe cost/pound of the fertilizer or the labor costs for harvesting. FIG.3 illustrates a representative simplified example of a chain ofconnected systems of the present invention each having device 2 set upby the respective user to obtain the desired inputs and outputs. Thesimplified example is of a seed breeder, farmer and food processor. Itis noted that one of the inputs for the farmer is the information fromthe device 2 of the breeder and the food processor, and similarly one ofthe inputs for the system of the breeder is from the device 2 of thefarmer. This embodiment of the present invention will not requireeveryone in the chain to maintain a complete system of the invention.FIG. 3 is to illustrate that t the individual devices 2 s could andwould integrate well together. Such systems will be optimized separatelyfor the respective user depending upon the parameters needed for theiroperations. From the user's perspective there is little difference fromhaving a single device 2 with multiple users having their own userdefined dashboard or interface and the users each having their owndevice 2 onsite. A dashboard is a computer user interface in the form ofa floating window (visual graphical interface) that provides contextualaccess to commonly used tools in a software program. However, from anoverall standpoint, having a central single device 2 with user definabledashboards allows for easier collection and sharing of data as well asother advantages of a single central device 2.

Following transportation section 16 there are several additionalsections, and in reality, transportation may be involved for each ofthose as well. And such transportation can take the form of groundtransportation, but it can also take the form of any other form oftransportation known in association with crops, including transportationover the ground, over water, in the air and any combinations thereof. Inparticular, shipment by truck, rail and/or shipment/transportation inocean going vessels for export around the globe is to be noted in thisregard. For the sake of simplicity, additional transportation sectionboxes are not shown in FIG. 1 , but it is to be understood thattransportation section 16 may be involved and typically are involved, ineach step going forward. Data here includes when the crop was picked up,where it was transported, was it delayed in shipment, if delayed underwhat weather/storage conditions and whether such conditions might beexpected to have an effect on the crop, were any other crops combinedwith this shipment, if so, what crops and when, and what was theirpedigree (pedigree here referring to all aspects of how such crop cameto be in existence and transported to this point), whether such cropswere treated in any way before, during or after shipment. This certainlyis not all of the categories of data associated with transportationsection 16, but it does provide a representative overview of howwidespread and substantial this data is as well.

The same holds true for off-farm storage section 18 and, if involved,food processor section 20. Government section 21 represents thatgovernment at the local, state or federal levels within the UnitedStates, and governmental entities around the world in their respectivenations, are an integral section in today's food production orchestra.Whether approving agricultural products for initial sale (e.g. theUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA's) role with geneticallymodified agricultural products) or export or importation (e.g. theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA's) role in evaluatingand approving registrations of agriculturally active ingredients) orinspecting them for quality, size or other parameters, or investigatingthem for public safety (e.g. any of the law enforcement agencies) as inthe case of diseases or intentional or inadvertent attacks upon ordisruptions to the food safety and/or quality, or evaluatingagriculturally active ingredients used in the production the government(using the term government in its broadest sense) 21 has a large role toplay. The information government section 21 inputs or can use as anoutput is substantial indeed. This is true as well of the retail sale,distribution and export section 22 and consumption section 24 in termsof data generated or consumed at each step in their respective process.

It may be noted that retail sale, distribution and export section 22places increasing demands on the system to have such informationavailable for a given crop, with much of that desired on a real timebasis. Reasons include, but are not limited to, traceability, namelytracking down and finding any sources of contamination in the processand liability shifting in accordance therewith, homeland security issuesto track and find points of interception in the food supply, and toaddress inquiries from consumption section 24 and/or organizations suchas those preferring organic foods or those concerned with the amount ofenergy or sustainability associated with producing the crop, e.g. carbonfootprint groups. Increasingly important in the global agriculturaleconomy are the MRL limits set by many importing countries. Thosecountries wishing to export to an importing country must often certifyat the border or port that the crop being imported complies with MRLsset by the importing country, or the crop will be refused entry. It isthus easy to see why all of the data associated with the production ofthe crop, (its “agricultural pedigree”), either as a stand alone entityor if blended with other harvests (as is often the case with corn whichis often blended with the harvest of several farms) the pedigree of allcorn in the shipment, is vital to have collected and in a form that ispresentable and useful and verifiable to the importing country so theshipment will be allowed entry. Thus, such retail sale, distribution andexport section 22 and consumption section 24 are often keenly interestedin some or all of the data generated in connection with the harvestedcrop.

Another section included in FIG. 1 is the carbon footprint section 26which is primarily interested analyzing the amount of energy and/orcarbon based fuels that were needed to produce the crop. It isinteresting because of the many layers this section 26 can represent.Some in such carbon footprint section 26 may be interested only forexample, in the energy consumed in transporting the crop, while othersmay be interested in tracking all of the data associated with the energycosts associated with producing, harvesting and storing the crop fromits first day of planting forward. Thus the interests of members incarbon footprint section 26 can and do cut across and/or involve many ofthe other sections illustrated in FIG. 1 . As pointed out above, thereis room for flexibility in the number and titles of the sections of FIG.1 , and it should be pointed out that the carbon footprint section 26,because it is often associated with goals of achieving sustainableagriculture, might equally have been entitled the sustainability section26, or that a separate sustainability section 27 might just as easilyhave been added to FIG. 1 . This point highlights that while carbonfootprint is becoming an accepted model to look at sustainability, it isonly one parameter, and that sustainability as a whole, can include thatand several other parameters, all of which contribute to theagricultural product's pedigree.

The technology section 28 is a representation of new data/informationsources relevant to the modern era food production system that mayutilize currently available technologies and/or advances, refinements,developments, improvements therein. In this section one would findtechnology companies and computer programmers and the like, though thissection is certainly not limited to just those entities. Thecontributions of technology section 28 will, among others, make existingdata sources/obsolete, lower costs of capturing data and/or provide newsections which can contribute to the Information Storage Device 2.Contributions of technology section 28 are expected to make Device 2more accurate, informative, reliable, have a lower output cost, amongothers, and often will improve Device 2 to make it more robust whilereducing the cost of, among others, of capturing, storing, manipulatingand providing the needed information. Technology section 28 oftenfunctions as an “on ramp” or gate that new sections must pass throughthat allow such new sections to participate in the modern era foodproduction system.

Some of the chief sections of the modern era food production orchestrahave been set out in the above discussion for purposes of understandingthe invention. But it is central to the present invention to appreciatethat the present invention is not so limited. It is simply impossible tolist here each and every person/entity/function associated with theproduction/harvest/distribution/transportation/storage/export/import/processing/consumptionand all other aspects of the agricultural product's production andutilization. However, what is common across them all, is that atvirtually each stage, data is generated. Like a symphony in warm upsession, the device 2 taps the lectern to call them all to attention fora symphonic “interweaving of themes or harmonious arrangement” tocoordinate the input, storage, manipulation and output of that data in aform that is useful to those having need of such information/data.

The input of data into device 2 can be manual. It is desirable if mostor all of the data is inputted automatically. For example, where thefarm implement of the plantings section 6 and/or the harvest section 12collects data, the computer of the farm implement, in communication withsatellites, cell phone towers or the like, can automatically upload itsdata to the device 2. This automatic inputting and updating ispreferably true for each section in FIG. 1 . Regarding inputting of datainto the device 2, if it is manual as opposed to automatic, it ispreferred if the system follows a computerized interview process, muchlike that of modern tax preparation software with the user where theuser is prompted and counseled for what information is being requested,and then the system asks the desired questions to either set up theautomatic downloads of information, or prompts the user for manualinputs of the relevant parameters in a format that is somewhatstandardized so as to be usefully entered into the device 2, much in thesame way that tax information in inputted in a manner useful to theInternal Revenue Service or other taxing bodies.

While data input can proceed by any number of communication channels andthe present invention is not so limited, satellite communications, celltower communications, wireless computer communications and the Internet,alone and in combination with one another, form some of the mostpowerful tools in the modern era to collect such information and provideit to device 2. Also, it may be mentioned here that any similar systemsof data recordation and capture, such as bar coding and its scanners,may be employed to capture data for transmission to device 2 and anylater developed technology performing this same function ofcommunication of the data to device 2 is envisioned as within the scopeof the present invention.

As noted above, device 2 is represented in FIG. 2 schematically as asingle unit, and it may in fact, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, be a single computer or server. However, it is only essentialthat device 2 be able to collect, store and/or manipulate the data, sowhile it can arguably be a single computer, it is equally possible to bea network of linked computers and/or servers that can provide suchfunction to collect, store and/or manipulate the data, and all areenvisioned as within the scope of the present invention. The precisehardware selection is not limiting to the present invention.

The software necessary to operate device 2 may be one program, created,owned, operated and/or maintained by a single entity in a fashionsimilar to the model set by the Windows® operating system available fromMicrosoft Corporation. Alternatively, the operating software/programmingmay be communal shared software, not owned by a single person or entityin the nature of the Linux software model. Alternatively the softwarenecessary to operate the device 2 may be a combination thereof. Theaccess to and revenue derived from the output of device 2 may takeseveral forms as within the scope of the present invention. Inalternative embodiments of the present invention, the output of device 2may be accessible to the public, accessible to only subscribers,accessible only to certain owners of the device 2 or combinationsthereof. The data may be offered for free, for a charge or combinationsthereof to some or all of the entities set forth in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Theoutput of the device 2 could conceivably be accessible in only onelocation or in several limited and secure or non secure locations. Inone embodiment of the present invention, it is envisioned that access israther broadly available as this tends to increase the usefulness of thedevice 2. Access may be had via any communications system, but theInternet presently represents the most efficient at the present time.Access is not limited to computers accessing the Internet. Newertechnologies such as smart phones/cell phones with access to theInternet, I-phones from Apple Corporation, I-Pads and the like areenvisioned as within the scope of the present invention forcommunication with and access to the output of device 2.

It is important to appreciate that device 2 is performing in the scopeof the present invention, much the same function that the conductorprovides for the symphony. Currently there are separated pockets of thedata/information associated with crop production, all of which areuseful in their own right. Like the strings versus the woodwinds versusthe brass versus the percussion sections of a symphony, these individualpockets of information/data are useful. But to obtain the full measureof its value, it is necessary that these pockets of information beassembled into a device 2 which can collect, store and, preferablymanipulate this information/data to provide a coordinated source ofhistoric data recall and predictive modeling outputs that can beaccessed and used by those associated with theproduction/harvest/transportation/sale/export etc of the crop. It is alack of the conductor's coordination and the corresponding need itproduces in the food industry, of which agricultural crop production isa subset that is addressed by the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , while input into device 2 is critical, so toois output. FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of selected “output”from device 2 to recipients/users of the information/data that was inputinto device 2 as discussed in connection with FIG. 1 . Such output canbe prior to or subsequent to manipulation of said data/information bysaid device 2. Some of the recipients/users of the output from device 2are the same as those who input information/data into device 2, butthere are many recipients/users who make use of the information/datapre- or post-manipulation, that had no part in inputtinginformation/data into the device 2.

More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , grower/farmers 30 are oneof the most logical recipients/users of the output of the device 2.Their uses are wide and varied, but even pre-manipulation, simplestorage of the information and retrieval forms an important output ofdevice 2. If the farmer wants to recall a certain growing methodologyused, or active ingredients, or timing, or other basic information, itis all available in device 2. For such grower/farmers 30, indeed for anyof the entities discussed in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 , anotherbenefit of such stored and retrievable information is that as suchinformation accumulates with time, it becomes possible to discerntrends, particularly the subtle trends that cannot be otherwise easilyobserved, relating to food production and the entirety of the foodsupply and consumption chain. While that is certainly one importantbenefit of the present invention, another important benefit ismanipulated output. For example, the grower may want to coordinate andcompare events such as rainfall and its timing, disease spread andvectors, and the like in relation to application of active ingredientssuch as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers and the likefor a time period such as the last growing season or last severalgrowing seasons to obtain a manipulated result that can be provided ingraphical or other form. The ability of device 2 to manipulate,data-mine, create relational databases and the like, allows device 2 tobe much more than a simple repository of information/data. Manipulatedoutput is not limited to growing parameters, but can include many othertypes of manipulation. For example, the manipulation can be directed totracking the profit from a given crop/field and/or portions thereof.

Another important manipulated output to the grower/farmers 30 ispredictive modeling that may or may not be tied with other externaldatabases and information available over the Internet and other sources,to allow the grower/farmers 30 to engage in the “what if” scenariosdescribed above. For example, the device 2 in one embodiment is designedto allow the grower/farmers 30 to select all or a portion of the farm,and in the selected portion to rotate or change the crop to be plantedthere in the coming year. The device 2 via the Internet or other means,determines current pricing and availability of the future crop both interms of its cost of acquisition and its market selling prices,calculates the customary cost of active ingredients and manpower andother factors necessary to plant, grow and harvest such a new crop,optionally accompanied by projected yields based on weather data,history of performance of that selected portion of the farm and otherfactors, to arrive at a predictive model of what the grower/farmer 30might be expected to obtain in terms of net income from producing thenewly selected crop in the coming year on his or her own farm. In asimilar fashion, the grower/farmer 30 can select other crops todetermine the best fit in terms of profit, time, labor and whateverother factors are important to the grower/farmer 30 as he or she makesthe decision as to what crop to plant in that section of the farm in thenext year.

Profit is not necessarily the only benefit to the grower/farmers 30, andeven where present, can be combined with other factors. For example,where a grower/farmer 30 on his or her own initiative desires to producea crop with a lower carbon footprint, predictive modeling of device 2can be used facilitate that analysis. If in the marketplace, foodproduced with the lower carbon footprint enjoys a higher sales price,this too can be factored into the device 2, to allow such grower/farmer30 to determine if he or she might be able to create such lower carbonfootprint crop, and yet still enjoy sufficient revenue as to engage insustainable farming operations both from an environmentally friendlyand/or an economic framework.

The present system operates well for evaluating a life-cycle assessmentor LCA, also known as life-cycle analysis, eco-balance, andcradle-to-grave analysis, which is a technique to assess environmentalimpacts associated with all the stages of a product's lifefrom-cradle-to-grave (i.e., from raw material extraction throughmaterials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair andmaintenance, and disposal or recycling). LCA's can help avoid a narrowoutlook on environmental concerns by: Compiling an inventory of relevantenergy and material inputs and environmental releases; Evaluating thepotential impacts associated with identified inputs and releases;Showing the results to help operators make a more informed decision. Thegoal of LCA is to compare the full range of environmental effectsassignable to products and services in order to improve processes,support policy and provide a sound basis for informed decisions. Theterm life-cycle refers to the notion that a fair, holistic assessmentrequires the assessment of raw-material production, manufacture,distribution, use and disposal including all intervening transportationsteps necessary or caused by the product's existence. There are two maintypes of LCA. “Attributional” LCAs seek to establish the burdensassociated with the production and use of a product, or with a specificservice or process, at a point in time (typically the recent past).“Consequential” LCAs seek to identify the environmental consequences ofa decision or a proposed change in a system under study (oriented to thefuture), which means that market and economic implications of a decisionmay have to be taken into account. Social LCA is under development as adifferent approach to life cycle thinking intended to assess socialimplications or potential impacts. Social LCA should be considered as anapproach that is complementary to environmental LCA. The procedures oflife cycle assessment (LCA) are part of the ISO 14000 environmentalmanagement standards which can be calculated with the system of thepresent invention for the desired agricultural product.

The predictive modeling may be pre-programmed into device 2, and/or itmay be programmable to any desired extent. If programmable, it may beprogrammed in one embodiment, by those inputting information into device2 and/or by those accepting, accessing or otherwise utilizing the outputof device 2. Where it is programmable, in one embodiment any of theentities described in FIGS. 1 and/or 2 may conduct such programming. Inan alternative embodiment, only a few, or even only one entity may beenabled or otherwise permitted to conduct such programming. Programmablepredictive modeling enhances the usefulness of the present invention, asusers of the device 2 can create custom inputs/outputs/reports and thelike. For example, a salesman in one geographic area might want to makeuse of certain predictive modeling germane to his area of sales, whileanother might want to make use of such modeling for a differentgeographic area. Programmable predictive modeling provides suchflexibility. The predictive modeling can include quite downstream orupstream users in the food supply chain. For example, even thoseinvolved with the production of genetically modified seeds can use suchpredictive modeling to analyze the cost of insertion of a genetic eventin a plant or animal associated with the food and/or food by-productproduction, and use predictive modeling of device 2 to estimateproduction costs, profits and the like from such activity.

As may be appreciated, this is by way of example, and it is clear thatthe output of device 2, with or without manipulation of the datatherein, can be used by the grower/farmer 30 and the remaining entitiesdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 2 in a wide variety of ways. It is to be notedthat not all grower/farmers own the land which is being farmed. In suchinstances where the land is owned by another, owner 32 as illustrated inFIG. 2 may want to use the output of device 2 in the same or similarmanner as grower/farmer 30. A recipient/user of the information/datafrom device 2 that might be at first overlooked is theowner/administrator 34 of the device 2, illustrated in FIG. 2 . Theowner/controller 34 of the device 2 may, for example, coordinate theinputs and outputs to device 2 and in so doing provide a valuableservice for which such owner/administrator 34 may derive an income fromsome or all of the recipient/users depicted in FIG. 2 . Such income maybe generated, as for example, with licensing fees, access fees, userfees, report fees or other means commonly known in today's informationage for obtaining an income stream from information/data. In otherinstances, the owner/administrator 34 may desire to make the outputs ofdevice 2 freely available to the public at large or to governmentalagencies or others depicted in FIG. 2 , as for example, outputinformation/data that might assist the Office of Homeland Security orsimilar governmental entities involved in protecting the valuable foodchain from the farm to its ultimate consumption by the end user of thecrop.

Illustrated in FIG. 2 are food processors 36 who use the output ofdevice 2 for several purposes of their own. Such output may include,again, (as for all entities depicted in FIG. 2 ), information/data inpre- or post-manipulation stages. Pre-manipulation data/informationincludes the history of the crop, where it was grown, under whatconditions etc., essentially the entire pedigree of the crop, includingfactors not currently commonly available, such as its carbon footprint.By food processors it is meant here any type of food processor,including processors that simply transform the crop without cooking,seasoning or other preparation techniques, or those that prepare finalfood stuffs from the crop. For example, in the former category foodstores may wish to clean or otherwise prepare the crop for sale. In thelatter category for example, a wine producer may transform the grapes into quality wines. In some instances it may be the same party performingboth functions as for example where a vineyard raises its own grapes andprocesses them into its own wines. Manipulated data/information usefulto food processors 36 can include forecasting manipulations to estimatehow much of a given crop may be expected in a given region and how muchit is expected to cost to purchase and or how much it may be valued forsale.

Distributors 38 are illustrated in FIG. 2 and in their function ofmoving processed foods from food processors 36 to retail sellers 40,they too may want historic non-manipulated information/data to determinethe pedigree of the food they are distributing. Manipulatedinformation/data is of value to them as well, as for example, predictivemodeling of trends for a future time period, or collective relationaldata/information collated over past periods of time to again determinetrends/patterns.

Consumers 42 have a wide variety of uses of pre-manipulation data, asfor example where a given crop seems to them to particularly flavorfulor otherwise beneficial, they may directly or indirectly access device 2to determine the history and pedigree of the crop or processed food sothat they can purchase the same in the future. Post-manipulation data isalso valuable to the consumer 42, as for example, where the consumer 42seeks predictive modeling, as for example, for supply or pricing.

Financial institutions 44 represents, in a fashion, an entire categoryof recipient/users, wherein when a financial institution 44 is seekingto make a decision regarding extending credit to other entities in FIG.2 , having access to simple pre-manipulation historic information/data,such as volume of crops produced over time in the past can be ofsignificant value in making decision to lend or not lend and at whatpercentage loan rate. Manipulated information/data, such as predictivemodeling that can be supplied by device 2 by taking into account factorssuch as the current cost of seeds and chemicals, current costs ofproduction, harvest, transportation and sale, and the currently salesprice enjoyed by that commodity, coupled with predictive modeling ofwhere those factors may be expected to go in the future to support theloan, can make such manipulated data/information of great value to afinancial institution 44 as an independent verifiable evaluation of thefundamentals of the transaction.

Similarly, farm equipment manufacturers 46 may use pre- and/orpost-manipulation data to predict rises and falls in the need forfarming equipment in various farming regions based on pre-manipulationinformation/data, post-manipulation information/data and/or combinationsthereof. This allows farm equipment manufacturers 46 to manufacture topredicted needs or move leased/rental equipment to needed locations inadvance of the development of the need. Similarly farm equipment dealerscan stock up on commonly needed parts and supplies in advance of suchneed.

Collectively, public interest groups such as non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) 48, and governmental organizations such as the Foodand Drug Administration (FDA) 50, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)52 and/or other governmental agencies 54 form categories ofrecipients/users of the output of device 2. For NGOs suchinformation/data may include historic pedigree information on theproduction/distribution/consumption of the crop. For governmentalagencies, these interests would largely overlap, but yet may includeadditional needs such as those stemming from safety of the food supply.In that latter regard, historic existing data/information relating tothe produced crop and its location in the process from planting toconsumption can aid in distribution of supplies in an emergency orcrisis. In a preferred embodiment, this information is provided in realtime to allow determination of the precise status of the food supply ata given moment. Post-manipulation information/data is useful to predicttrends, such as those of supply and availability in preparation offuture problems/emergencies. Historic pedigree information can help lawenforcement agencies track and bring to justice those who would tamperwith the food creation/distribution process. Food chain safety isalready of paramount importance to several governmental agencies, and isonly likely to increase in the future.

Another output of device 2 would be output of pre-manipulation orpost-manipulation data to service organizations or service individualswho address complaints of products used in the food supply chain. Device2, among other benefits, provides much data/information, such as but notlimited to satellite imagery that can be used to resolve complaints orprove a position in litigation. The output of device 2 could also beused with sales forces to identify fields where products used in thefood supply chain may not work effectively, thereby reducing complaints.If for example, the complaints were associated with failure of anagriculturally active ingredient/formulation chemical (e.g. herbicide,fungicide, insecticide, fertilizer etc) to perform as expected, ratherthan simply apply additional applications of the agricultural chemical,the root cause might be more properly identified and addressed, thusreducing it to the one application versus two or more and its attendantenvironmental benefits. For the grower/farmers 30, and indeed for allthose set forth in FIGS. 1 and 2 , there would also be greater proofthat each followed applicable stringent State and/or Federal guidelineswith respect to chemical applications.

Yet another advantage of the present invention lies in its ability toassist with protecting the safety and sanctity of the food chain itself.There is the discussion above of how the data/information residentwithin device 2 can assist law enforcement and governmental agencies,and that is certainly true. There is growing acceptance among the manyparticipants in the food production/food supply chain, that managingdata/information relating to the food chain, from the creation ofstarting materials, such as seeds in the case of a seed-basedagricultural product, through harvest, processing, distribution andfinal consumption, in short, the entire food supply chain, has value.Often termed food safety, or food distribution tracking, or foodtraceability, there are efforts by the food production industry, NGOsand government to track food throughout the entire production anddistribution process to ensure its integrity. For example, S. 510, theFDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, is the Senate's effort toprovide food-safety legislation that is intended to reduce the risk ofcontamination and thereby better protect public health and safety, raisethe bar for the food industry, and deter bad actors. S. 510 was statedby some to have the goal of providing the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) with the resources and authorities the agency needsto help make prevention the focus of food safety strategies. Among otherthings, this legislation required food companies to develop a foodsafety plan; it improves the safety of imported food and foodingredients; and it adopts a risk-based approach to inspection toimprove the safety of the food supply and enhance consumer confidence.Assistance with this initiative is one important function that can beaccomplished by device 2 of the present invention, sitting as it does,in a sense, somewhat like a spider at the very center of the food supplyand distribution web.

As may be appreciated, each of the recipients/users of information/dataillustrated in FIG. 2 from output device 2 may have a role in the inputof their respective sets of data as well. And each may use onlypre-manipulation data, only post-manipulation data or combinationsthereof. Neither FIG. 1 , nor FIG. 2 is meant to be exhaustiverepresentations of each of the groups involved in the input and/oroutput of data/information into or out of device 2. They arerepresentative only, and many other groups, subgroups or others in theentirety of the food supply chain are included as within the scope andspirit of the present invention even if not specifically named or setforth in FIGS. 1 and/or 2 .

Technology is expanding at an unprecedented pace, and linking oftechnologies is also occurring at unprecedented rates. It is within thescope of the present invention to employ these unfolding technologies asthey develop. For example, where the crop is an apple or orange, barcoding or other similar technology which is unique may be employed to abar code strip on individual pieces of fruit that falls within the scopeof the above described invention. Such bar coding can be placed on thefruit at any point during its growth, harvest and transportation toprocessors or end consumers. In one embodiment of the present invention,where the fruit is to be sold to an end consumer, as for example in agrocery or other store, it is valuable within the scope of the presentinvention to have bar code or other reading mechanism associated withthe fruit that carries all of the information that an end consumer maywant in terms of the fruits pedigree that led it to be there on thegrocery shelf. This includes any/all of the information describedherein. As far as readers/blending of technologies, in this example theinformation may be present as, for example a QR Codes reader. Suchreaders are currently used in a broad commercial context, including bothcommercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applicationsaimed at mobile phone users (known as mobile tagging). Users with acamera phone or I-Phone or similar apparatus, equipped with the correctreader application can scan the image of the QR Code to display text,contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web pagein the phone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objectsis known as a “hard link” or physical world hyperlinks. Such technologymay be employed to place the QR Code on the fruit, which the shopperscans with his or her phone, to be linked to a web site providing allsuch data to the shopper as the shopper may desire to make the purchase.Alternatively, instead of a shopper, the fruit may be at the facilitiesof an exporter, who performs that same function with that same phone orany other device to determine if the fruit meets the MRL or otherrequirement of where the exporter would like to ship the fruit. Inshort, it is within the scope of the present invention to employ any orall of these known and emerging technologies and linking of suchtechnologies to provide the objectives of the present invention.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention there can be linkingof entire areas of the present invention. For example, where such QRcodes are employed, and the crop is lettuce or tomatoes, if it has beendetermined that the lettuce or tomatoes have been accidentally orintentionally harmed, as for example with E coli, the consumer at theabove described grocery store can scan such produce with his or hercamera on his or her I-phone and use a code such as but not limited to aQR code to be linked to a website where warnings associated with thatparticular pedigreed crop can be traced and the appropriate warnings canbe generated and given to the consumer.

The above description highlights a number of aspects of the presentinvention. Selected portions of these aspects are discussed again belowto further elucidate these particulars of the present invention.

The invention provides a method and associated system for establishingan agricultural pedigree for at least one agricultural product, whereinthe agricultural pedigree is a collection of the information associatedwith the origin and history of an agricultural product, from itsearliest of stages of creation of its starting materials (e.g. forseed-based agricultural products it would be the creation of the seeds,for example) through its production, harvest, distribution and finalconsumption, and may be considered a record of some or all of theinputs, treatments and processes performed on or to a given agriculturalproduct in its production and distribution, some or all of which may beselected and/or defined by one or more entities making use in one ormore ways of such Agricultural Pedigree The agricultural pedigree inputscan be set by a user in response to customer or user or other desires,or dictated by vendors for establishing or maintaining businessrelations, or dictated by governmental agencies for regulatorycompliance. The method includes providing an open communication networkaccessible information storage device 2, such as a computer coupled tothe internet, adapted to receive input of data relating to agriculturalproduct production and distribution from multiple sources, asrepresented in FIG. 1 . The method includes inputting said data intosaid information storage device 2 manually or automatically, asdiscussed above. The method includes storing and, optionally,manipulating, said data in the device 2 and providing access to saiddata, pre- post- or both of its manipulation, via the open communicationnetwork, such as the internet to one or more entities as represented inFIG. 2 . The method and associated system of the invention provides thatthe information storage device 2 is configured to be used as at leastone of: a tool for traceability of at least one agricultural product, atool for establishing and/or confirming the agricultural pedigree of theagricultural product, a real time decision making tool, and a predictivemodeling tool.

Traceability of the products is the ability to track agriculturalproducts throughout the production and distribution chain. Themaintaining of the agricultural pedigree allows the system to easilyaccommodate any traceability requirements as each participant in thechain is maintained in the pedigree.

The system can be used as a communications tool or a device improvingcommunications as the system can be easily used to co-ordinateharvesting with shipping. For example a farmer can use the system toidentify a need for his agricultural product at a certain location and acertain time, and the he or the system can manually or automaticallycalculate when select portions of the agricultural product that thefarmer is growing, are best timed for harvesting and being madeavailable to shippers/distributors 38 to ensure they are delivered tothe shippers/distributors at the most useful moment and at a time whichwill ensure shipment and arrival to the entity desiring the agriculturalproduct when the agricultural product is at its peak in terms offreshness or other relevant parameter. This is particularly useful forinternational shippers/distributors who must carefully consider the longtransit times and distances involved avoiding loss of their shipment dueto spoilage or other factors. While a farmer can use the system of thepresent invention to his advantage as just described, so too,alternatively shippers, who often combine shipments and must often delaytransportation until they have received the agricultural products fromthe grower, can co-ordinate with farmers that they, theshipper/distributor, have excess or minimal shipping capacity. Forexample, the shipper may have received 5% more harvest than originallybudgeted from one farmer and he can timely convey this to a secondfarmer who adjusts his harvest to maintain the crops that could not beshipped in the field for a supplemental harvest (in a week, forexample), thus saving on storage and improving product “freshness.”These are merely representative examples of the communicationpossibilities with the present system to improve agricultural productflow. The opportunities here are virtually limitless.

The maintaining of the agricultural pedigree allows for the system toevaluate a sustainability measurement for the agricultural products,which may be in one embodiment of the present invention according topredefined or preselected sustainability parameters, which werepredefined or preselected by any number of individual or combinedentities. For example, several leading food companies have madesustainability, or sustainable agriculture, a top priority, and oftenview their farm level agricultural supply chains as the biggestopportunity for improvement. It is important to have quantifiablemeasurements for this priority; however this is not easy.Measurements/ratings of sustainability can be changing according toagreed upon norms, or technology or development of scientific knowledge,and is currently in a great and rapid state of evolution. Even asevolving sustainability measurements attempt to pinpoint the propermeasurement of agricultural stewardship, the maintaining of acomprehensive agricultural pedigree allows for constant evaluations ofsuch sustainability measurement for the agricultural products accordingto such designated sustainability parameters. In addition to evaluatinghow a given agricultural product has satisfied the goals of agriculturalstewardship with appropriate levels of sustainability, farmers oftenwish to properly plan future agricultural products with sustainabilityin mind. The present invention contemplates that the evaluating of asustainability measurement for the agricultural products is, at least,part of the predictive modeling tool.

The maintaining of a comprehensive agricultural pedigree that is capableof transferring with the agricultural product also allows the system toevaluate compliance of the agricultural products with preexistingstandards in accordance with predefined standard requirements. Forexample if a shipper receives an order from Chile for a given crop, theshipper can use the system of the present invention to evaluate whethera farmer growing that crop in the United States satisfies the Chileanimport requirements for such crops simply by evaluating the informationin the system of the present invention, which in a preferred embodimenthas been placed there in real time, allowing the shipper to make animmediate decision as to whether to contact that U.S. farmer tonegotiate a purchase of some or all of the U.S. farmer's harvest of thatcrop. A vender, such a large grocery store chain, may likewise haveparticular compliance standards that can be easily checked and verifiedwith the agricultural pedigree by any interested party, including thefarmer, the shipper/distributor, the consumer, the government, etc.

The system preferably incorporates a real time decision making tool anda predictive modeling tool. The real time decision making tool cancalculate essentially any of a number of parameters of the associatedagricultural product, including but most certainly not limited tosustainability measurements according to optionally predefinedvariables, a profitability measurement based upon total costs andcurrent product price, a total water usage measurement for cropproduction, a total carbon footprint measurement for the agriculturalproduct's production, and a risk management measurement for theagricultural product's production (such as profitability/loan amount).The predictive modeling tool can similarly predict essentially any of anumber of parameters of the associated agricultural product, includingpredicted sustainability measurement according to predefined variables,a predicted profitability measurement based upon total expected costsand expected product price, a total expected water usage measurement forthe agricultural product production, a total expected carbon footprintmeasurement for the agricultural crop production, and an expected riskmanagement measurement for agricultural product production (such asprofitability/loan amount with a range of uncertainty).

One important aspect of the present invention is inputting,automatically or manually, contemporaneous inputs into the agriculturalpedigree system over time throughout the production and distribution ofthe agricultural products. The contemporaneous data inputting increasesthe accuracy and reliability of the data allowing the system to bebetter utilized to verify compliance with certain conditions.Backtracking to find data at a later point to determine a complianceparameter naturally has considerably less reliability.

Another important aspect of the system of the invention that ispreferred is the use of an interview process, which is preferably acomputerized interview process similar to that of current taxpreparation software's interview process, for inputting data and settingup data inputs. The interview process assures that the operator does notmiss critical inputs and allows the operator to modify the system forhis particular needs by omitting data not needed for his particularbusiness sector. Further, in the case of the computerized interviewprocess, it will allow the user to set up his own display as apersonalized dashboard of results, parameters, or the like that arerelevant to that operators business.

Another important aspect of the system of the present inventiondiscussed above is the step of using at least one of the predictivemodeling tool and the real time decision making tool to facilitate risksharing associated with the production of the agricultural product byvalidating the risks associated with the production of the agriculturalproduct in an independent verifiable manner. This system offers animportant standard for documenting loans of recourses based upon futureagricultural production.

A further important aspect of the invention is allowing access to theinformation storage device to and communication between those in thechain of production including at least access to agricultural productharvesters, packagers, transporters, processors and distributors, andcommunication between at least agricultural product harvesters,packagers, transporters, processors and distributors.

As noted in the summary of the invention a user definable grid foragricultural products allows for a series of unique applications of thepresent invention. The device 2 of the invention will preferably allowusers to designate subsections of their fields/property intoidentifiable subsections, referred herein as a user definable grid. Eachgrid of a user's field can also be called a sector. One implementationof the user definable grid could utilize the Universal TransverseMercator (UTM) geographic coordinate system. The UTM is a grid-basedmethod of specifying locations on the surface of the Earth that is apractical application of a 2-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.The UTM system employs a series of sixty zones, each of which is basedon a specifically defined secant transverse Mercator projection. In aUTM user defined system the user need only define the grid size. Afurther implementation of the user defined grid system would allow userto specify at least a longitude origin, a scale, and possibly “falsenorthing” or “false easting” (which allows for rotational orientation ofthe separate grid). The user definable grid need not be limited totraditional grid-worked grids. For example can use a map interface toidentify segments, such as tracing around an area on a maprepresentation to form one “grid”, such as the colloquial “north forty.”Thus there are several manners in which users can easily create theirown local grids on the device 2. The user definable grid can be aparticularly useful when the system of the present invention is utilizedas a traceability tool, wherein the user defines a grid of productsource.

The user definable grid has further application in improving pesticideapplication in agricultural product growing on a grower's field.Pesticides are expensive and there is a general desire to limit theirapplication to that which is necessary for healthy production. With auser definable grid for the grower's field, the system can utilize theinputs for determining, for at least one, and preferably all userdefined grid designation unit the pesticide requirements based upon realtime data, predictive modeling or combinations thereof. The system canbe used to communicate these grid specific pesticidal requirements to apesticidal applicator, such as a tractor with a controllable distributedpesticide applicator. The pesticidal applicator can then apply pesticidecompounds to the specific grid designations in accordance with saidpesticidal requirements for the associated grid. The system gainsgreater control over pesticide application and can be very effective atminimizing overall pesticide applications.

The user definable grid has further application in improving harvestingagricultural products. The system allows for maintaining theAgricultural Pedigree for grower's field's product by grid designationof the user defined grid. This information can also yield a selectiveharvesting of the field based upon distinctions in the AgriculturalPedigree via grid designation. The system of the present inventionallows the farmer to address the health and progress and harvesting oftheir fields as a whole and practically down to plants on an individualbasis through maintaining information on a user defined griddesignation.

Following are non-limiting examples to more fully explain the presentinvention. Departures from these specific examples remain within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

Example 1—General Example

In this prophetic example, an agricultural pedigree is created asfollows. A seed provider breeds an improved corn plant variety for sale,Such breeding may be traditional breeding, or involve geneticmanipulation/modification or both. The seed provider coats the seedswith an insecticide and other coatings, and bags the seeds for sale tothe seed retailer. Prior to the shipping of a bag of the seeds to theretailer, the seed provider inputs relevant data into the informationstorage and/or information manipulation device 2 of the presentinvention. One implementation of the device 2 is through a SaaS modelthat the seed provider accesses as a customer with their owncustomizable dashboard. The information added into the device 2 includesinformation on the seed variety, genetic modifications or stacking ofgenes, if any, the dates grown, the dates seeds were harvested and howit was done, the coatings and the amounts of each placed on the seedsand when they were coated, when the seeds were bagged, including themake up of the bagging material and its characteristics, and any otherinformation deemed relevant to the agricultural pedigree by either theseed provider, or by those along the chain from planting to consumptionof the crop, or related thereto (such as U.S. Food and DrugAdministration or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, forexample).

In a preferred embodiment the bag includes a scanable tracking means,such as a barcode. The seed provider schedules the bag of seed forshipment to a seed retailer. The shipper scans the bar code which tracksthe moment of pickup and that information is sent via cell phonetechnology to the device 2. The shipper may have their own userdefinable dashboard interface with the device 2 for recording anddisplaying those parameters relevant to the shipper. A globalpositioning device tracks the route the seed bag takes from the seedprovider to the seed retailer, tracking any delays or stops, and sensorsin the transporting unit (e.g. car, truck, ship, etc) and/or within theseed bag record parameters desired to be tracked, as for example but notlimited to, temperature or humidity or other conditions. Thisinformation is sent via cell phone technology to the device 2. The seedretailer, upon receiving the seed bag(s), scans the bar code(s) torecord receipt of the bag of seed which is also sent either via wirelesscomputer technology or cell phone technology to the device 2. Theretailer, likewise, may have their own user definable dashboardinterface with the device 2 for recording and displaying thoseparameters relevant to the retailer. A farmer purchases the bag of seedfrom the seed retailer and takes the seed back to his farm. On at leastone of his farm equipment, (e.g. either on the tractor, the seed planteror both) is a scanning device. The farmer scans the bag of seed whichrecords the seed's insertion into the farmer's planting equipment. Thedate and time of planting are recorded by a timing device on the planteror tractor, and this information is recorded either on the tractor'scomputer and sent to the device 2, or is sent directly via cell phonetechnology to the device 2. The farmer, like others in the productionchain, may have their own user definable dashboard interface with thedevice 2 for recording and displaying those parameters relevant to thefarmer. Also included in the farmer's tractor or the planter is a globalpositioning device which records where the seeds are being planted, inwhich field or portion of field of the farm, the depth, the spacing ofindividual seeds and rows of seeds and any other information deemedrelevant to the agricultural pedigree. The weather on the day ofplanting is recorded from a number of sources accessed by the device 2,such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Additionally, and optionally, the farmer has included sensors on thefarm which measure the humidity, temperature and other parametersthroughout all or a portion of the growing season, and this too is senteither directly to the device 2 or to the farmer's tractor and then tothe device 2. Throughout the growing season, each time the tractor isused to treat that area of the field, what the tractor is doing isrecorded by one or more of sensors on the tractor, sensors on theequipment pulled or otherwise used by the tractor (e.g. sprayers etc) orby sensors on the farm itself. Thus with any application of water,agricultural chemicals including fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides,herbicides and the like, this information is collected by the farmer'sequipment, preferably using scanning technology on the containers of thematerials being applied which is simply scanned in by the farmer, andall of the collected information is sent to the tractor and then to thedevice 2 or is sent directly via cell phone technology to the device 2.As may be appreciated at this point, when harvesting time comes, allaspects of harvesting, including but not limited to date, time, portionof field, yield, weather, days from original planting, size of kernel,etc, are recorded by the equipment and/or the tractor and then sent tothe device 2, or are sent directly to the device 2. If recording from aspecific portion of a the field (which may be in the form of a userdefined grid of the overall field) is required for any reason, some orall of the crop can be hand-picked, a global positioning system coupledwith a labeling system and printer creates a bar code in the field, andthe hand-picked crop is placed in containers with the bar code appliedthereon so that even the portion of the field in which it was grown canbe identified. Additionally, information such as who did the picking andwhether any sanitary or other safety measures were employed can be amongthe captured information as well. While unusual for corn, this of coursemay be quite applicable to other crops, such as strawberries forexample.

The harvested corn is stored on the farm, and a sensor on the storagedevice records when the corn was placed in the silo, the size of thesilo and volume filled, are measured, whether any conditioning of theseed occurred as it went into or out of the silo is recorded—such aswhether it was treated with insecticides or fungicides, and if so, howmuch and how was it treated, also for example, the airflow in the silois recorded, a timing device records how long it remained there, aglobal positioning device records where it was stored and all of thisinformation is communicated to the device 2, directly or throughintermediate equipment. Again, other information, such as the weatherconditions throughout the storage period can be accessed by the device 2manually or automatically, and recorded as part of the agriculturalpedigree of this harvested corn crop.

The farmer desires to sell his crop, and while he could certainly useexisting methods, such as calling his normal purchasers, instead he usesthe device 2. He alerts the device 2 that he is ready to sell his crop,which in turn is in communication with a network of those who couldpurchase the crop. The farmer can have a set price, or bidding canbegin, or the device 2 can access a third source, such as a standardcommodity pricing index relevant to the sale at that time. Alternativelythose who would purchase can receive bids from farmers, selecting thelowest bid that meets their needs. Via the device 2, the sale can beconsummated, and the device 2 can automatically then contact shippers toalert them to come to the farm to get the crop. Here too, the device 2can be used to provide the best price for shipping to the farmer or theshipper. When the shipper arrives at the farm to obtain the load, heretoo the date and time of pick up, path of transport, and time oftransport, how much was sold and how much is left for sale can all berecorded and placed into the device 2, adding to the agriculturalpedigree.

In order to provide evidence of sustainable agriculture and/or otherparameters, such as carbon footprint, the information provided to thedevice 2 relating to the farmer's methods relating to growing, storing,treating and handling the crop can be used by the device 2 to calculatea sustainability rating according, in a preferred embodiment, to anagreed upon sustainability scale, much like a Richter earthquake ordiamond clarity scale. In other words, preferably, a commonly acceptedmethodology for assessing sustainability with predefined parameters hasbeen agreed upon by those associated with the agricultural industry, thedevice 2, using those parameters, can provide a sustainability ratingfor that farmer for that crop. It can also compare and contrast basedupon adjacent or nearby farms and/or regionally and/or nationally and/orinternationally all based upon the agricultural pedigree informationcontained within the device 2. The device 2 can use data it acquiredfrom the tractor, equipment and sensors on the farm, such as the amountof fuel and oil consumed by the tractor or other equipment in theproduction of the crop. If such automatically uploaded information isinsufficient, the device 2 can be used by the farmer in a structuredinterview process, much like today's tax preparation software, to guidethe farmer into providing any relevant and needed information in a waythat will be common to all farmers and in a way that is useable to thedevice 2.

As may be appreciated, while the device 2 can be a series of separatecomputers, in a preferred embodiment it is available in the mannercommon to today's application software where all those inputting andextracting data do so from the applications software provider whomaintains the device 2.

Upon obtaining the corn crop from the farmer, the shipper transports thecorn crop to its desired destination, which in this example, is a foodprocessor. As may be appreciated, in a similar fashion as outlined abovewith other phases of transport, times, dates, routes of transport,temperature (ambient or temperatures within the load via sensors) andmore is all recorded and provided to the device 2 to add to theagricultural pedigree. As the food processor processes the corn into adifferent end product, in a similar fashion, its processing and otherequipment uploads information relevant to the agricultural pedigree tothe device 2. Similarly, for any information not otherwise available viasuch uploading, the food processor is taken by the device 2 through aninterview relevant to the food processing industry for this type of foodprocessor to obtain the relevant information in a useable fashion. Heretoo, the device 2 is used to establish a sustainable agriculture ratingfor the food processor.

The food processor is then in a position to send its processed food to afood retailer, and again, the food processor can use traditional routes,or can use the device 2 of the present invention to alert would bepurchasers that it has processed product ready for sale. Again, the foodprocessor can set a price, the purchaser can set a price, the device 2could access a pricing index relevant to that product or bidding couldoccur by either a series of food processors all wishing to sell theirproduct or by a series of purchasers wishing to purchase the product,which can be coordinated via the device 2, with the sale consummatedthere as well.

Again, as with the above, shippers can be automatically notified,shipping prices established in a similar manner via the device 2 and theprocessed food product is shipped to the retail sales store for sale toa consumer. Where, for example, the retail sales store desires topurchase foods having the best sustainable agriculture rating, theratings of the seed provider, farmer, food processor and anytransporting companies there between can be added or otherwise blendedto provide a sustainable agriculture rating or carbon foot print ratingor the like. The retail sales store may desire to place some or all ofthis information on the product being sold, as for example via a barcode or other scannable technology. In this fashion, a consumer wantingto purchase the product can use any scanning device, such as thosepresently available even on the common “smart” phone presentlyavailable, bar tags and radio frequency identification tags, and thereat the retail sales store, the consumer of the food product can makepurchasing decisions on such information from the agricultural pedigreeas is available via said bar code or similarly functioning technology.Alternatively, the consumer may be placed in communication with thedevice 2 to access any portion of the agricultural pedigree desired tobe viewed by the consumer. As may be appreciated, an economically drivensustainability model is possible in which agricultural products of highquality grown sustainably may command or extract voluntarily from theconsumer, a higher purchase price. This can be particularly useful ifthe sustainable agriculture actually cost more to produce, and,arguably, these higher sales prices would carry higher margins, thusproviding an economic incentive for all those involved in bringing theproduct to the consumer. to employ sustainable agriculture.Alternatively to encourage a consumer to purchase products of highsustainability, such products may carry a lower sales price to encouragethe consumer to spend his or her income on such sustainable agriculture,providing the appropriate economic incentives are in place for thoseinvolved in producing the agricultural product and bringing it to theconsumer. As may be appreciated, in this example, not only is theagricultural pedigree established, but the traceability tool is alsoestablished in this manner. Still further, timely, even automaticuploading of some or all of the data in the agricultural pedigree hasoperated in this prophetic example to provide decision makers along thechain, from the seed provider, to the farmer, to the food processor, tothe retail sales store, to the consumer, to the shippers, transportersand others in the chain, with a real time decision making tool orplatform from the device 2.

Example 2—Just in Time Harvesting

A retailer or distributor in another country realizes a need for ahighly perishable agricultural product that will have to be transporteda substantial distance internationally. The retailer (or distributor)could contact an international shipper directly or a commodities brokerin the traditional manner, but in this example, the retailer/distributorhas access to and utilizes device 2 as described in Example 1. Theretailer/distributor could broadly alert international shippers of itsneeds, or could alert a more limited set or even a single shipperperhaps known to the distributor/retailer. In this example, theretailer/distributor notifies directly via device 2 via the opencommunications network, an international shipper known to theretailer/distributor. The international shipper of ocean going vesselsrealizes it has a vessel that will be ready to disembark for transportto the retailer/distributor at a date four weeks into the future. Theshipper accesses device 2 via the open communication network, and placesa notice of the quantity and type of agricultural product with which itis desiring to fill its vessel, and of the date and time the vessel willleave port, and its destination, and the shipper is presented with achoice of either inputting the maximum price the shipper is willing topay for the agricultural product or starting a bidding process in whichthe shipper is presented with bids from farmers enabling it to seek theagricultural product for the lowest bid. The shipper selects the optionto state a price it is willing to pay, and this is recorded in thedevice 2. The device 2, is populated with data allowing it to ascertainthat for this type of agricultural product crop and for its destination,there are certain requirements that are established and must be met. Forexample, the shipper specifies a certain sustainability rating. Thecountry of destination has set a maximum residue level (MRL) formaterials that are commonly used to treat that agricultural product.Other parameters such as size, color, brix are specifications/parametersthat can be set by the retailer/distributor. The retailer/distributormay even offer to pay a premium if certain parameters, such as a certaindesired sustainability rating, carbon footprint, water usage level,etc., can be had, (particularly for example a reliable sustainabilityrating of the type established by the device 2 for the reasons describedelsewhere in this application).

A first farmer, also accessing device 2 via the open communicationsnetwork, has such agricultural product in her field, and so she attemptsto offer to fill a portion of the shipper's need. The device 2, locatesthe agricultural pedigree for that product for that farmer, and furtherapplies the sustainability rating filter set by the shipper and the MRLfilter set by the country of destination, and concludes that thisfarmer's agricultural product will meet the criteria set, and proceedsto facilitate the making of the sale between the farmer and the shipper.Upon consummation of the sale, this farmer knows that in order for theagricultural product to reach the vessel at its optimum time, given thatthe agricultural product has a long transit time upon embarking fromport, the farmer should harvest the crop 12 days before the vessel'sscheduled departure. In this way, the farmer and the shipper communicatevia device 2 for a just in time harvesting to shipment relationship.

A second farmer, attempting to fill another portion of the shipper'sneeds, also has its agricultural pedigree examined by the device 2, andit is determined by device 2 to have easily met the MRL standard for thecountry of destination, but the sustainable agriculture rating of thissecond farmer is outside the range specified by the shipper and/orretailer/distributor. The device 2 can either be programmed to notpermit the sale to go further, or it may be programmed to communicatethis to the shipper to allow the shipper to determine for itself or inconsultation with the retailer/distributor whether either will waivethat particular parameter, or it may be programmed to give the shipperthe choice of these courses of action.

In this example, the device 2 is programmed to advise the shipper of apotential order but note that the sustainable agriculture rating is notwithin the shipper's specified range. The shipper can use this point tore-negotiate the sales price of the material, or may waive thatparameter, and the second farmer then knows that given his distance fromthe vessel, he will have to harvest his crop 14 days before the vessel'sscheduled departure date, and again, in this way, the second farmer andthe shipper communication via device 2 for a just in time harvesting toshipment relationship.

As may be appreciated, there is benefit here to both the shipper and thefarmer. The shipper will have the agricultural product when it is neededand with a surety it will be accepted at its country of destination. Thefarmer is assured, even before harvesting the agricultural product, of asure and certain sale and of the optimum time for harvesting in relationto shipment. Further in this example, the end consumer in the country ofdestination purchasing the product from the retailer/distributor isprovided with the scan-able bar code enabling it to determine whatfarmer provided this product, and because the product has arrived at itspeak moment of use, the farmer's reputation is enhanced. Conversely, ifshipping or other delays affect the quality of the agricultural productoutside of the control of the farmer such that the agricultural productis not so good, or fresh or fails to meet some other importantparameter, the farmer, accessing the agricultural pedigree can determinethat it was due to delays in shipment, not his or her agriculturalproduct, that was the cause of this less than optimum result.

In this example, the first and second farmer fill the shipper's need forthe agricultural product, but yet at different quality and differentprice points.

A third farmer attempts to offer to fill the shipper's need, but isadvised by the device 2 that the shipper's needs for the agriculturalproduct have been filled. While this third farmer, in this example, willnot have made the vessel or the sale, there is benefit still in thatthis third farmer had not harvested his agricultural product hoping tomake a sale, only to have a highly perishable product at risk. Thisthird farmer can look for another shipper having need of that product,so that this third farmer too can enjoy the benefits of a just in time,harvest to shipping relationship.

Example 3—Predictive Modeling

In this prophetic example, a grower having grown corn on a large portionof his farm desires to convert a portion of his farm to the productionof wheat. Utilizing global positioning devices and input from thegrower, or by the grower's inputting of latitude and longitude lines, orby way sensors placed about the farm that provide coordinates on a grid,or by graphical user interface or other means, the device 2 understandsthe geographic footprint of this grower's farm. Still further, due tomaintaining an historical account of the corn grown by that grower onthat farm from its agricultural pedigree resident in device 2, thedevice 2 contains a record of past yields in all or a portion of thefarm of the corn crop. In a preferred embodiment it maintains theagricultural pedigree for adjacent or nearby farms, or similar farmssituated regionally, nationally, or globally, In a preferred embodiment,the device 2 can correlate such information based upon filteringqualifications selected by the user of the device 2, selected by thedevice 2 or both, as described more fully below.

Utilizing a graphical user interface, or other means, the growerhighlights that portion of the farm that he is thinking of changing fromcorn to wheat. The grower is presented with the option of being takenthrough an interview process by the device 2 or to input information ofhis own choosing. Such information can include labor rates, energycosts, rent, fertilizer costs, seed costs, pesticidal active ingredientcosts, seed costs, equipment costs, etc. This farmer chooses theinterview method; where upon the device 2 acquires certain informationfrom the grower by conducting a computerized interview. Such informationcan include the price of wheat seed in the grower's geographic area. Ifthe grower is not aware of a figure, the device 2 accesses publishedsales prices of seed sellers in that grower's area and provide themissing information. Optionally, if the grower does not agree with thatprice, he can override it. In a similar fashion, other data is eitherprovided by the grower, provided by the device 2 from the informationalready stored on device 2, or can be accessed by the device 2 over theopen communication network, such as information which can be of ageneral nature (such as published prices for seeds or published indexesfor the sales prices of various crops). Or the information collected orcorrelated during the interview process can be specific to that farmbased on past agricultural pedigree information resident in device 2. Asmay be appreciated, such information is not limited to just thepreceding data, but may include weather data, information on the wheatvarieties with identification of those performing particularly well inthe area, pesticidal compounds used to treat the agricultural productthat appear to have been shown to be particularly effective in the area,among others. At the end of the interview process, the device 2,utilizing predictive modeling, can provide the grower with an accurateestimate of what that grower might expect to realize in profits if sucha portion of his farm were converted to wheat. Still further, if thefarmer needed additional equipment to purchase or lease in order toplant or harvest a wheat crop, the device 2 can be configured,preferably during the interview process, to determine those needs andfactor them into its final predictive model of what the grower may hopeto realize by converting the identified portion of his farm from corn towheat. Similarly, the device 2 is programmed, in this example, to locateand identify adjacent and/or nearby farms, or farms regionally,nationally and/or globally similarly situated that that grew wheat inthe past and, based on its/their agricultural pedigree, considered aloneor in combination, to utilize that information to further refine andimprove the predictive model/assessment it provides to the farmer makingthe predictive modeling inquiry.

Example 4—Risk as

In this prophetic example, the grower of Example 3 has assured himselfthat wheat will significantly increase his profit, and he decides toconvert a portion of his farm to wheat. However, he will have need of amajor capital expenditure to purchase certain equipment to enable him toplant and harvest his wheat, and he needs a loan from a lendinginstitution to purchase the equipment.

The grower may use traditional methods to support such a loan, but inthis example, the grower approaches a lender in his area seeking such aloan. The lender is also in communication with device 2 via the opencommunication network, and with the grower's permission, views thepredictive model originally provided by the device 2 to the grower.Because the predictive model has greater accuracy than has heretoforebeen possible from the many advantages of the device 2 as set forthabove, including but not limited to its access to agricultural pedigreeinformation and/or sustainable agriculture information for thatparticular farm, and for comparative purposes, with other similar orsomewhat similar farms on a regional, national or international basis.Also, utilizing information resident within device 2, and informationavailable to it over the open communication network, the lender is alsoquickly assured that this is a sound business plan here. However, thelender in this prophetic example holds the fear that the grower may havebeen too optimistic in some of his assumptions during the computerizedinterview process. Also, this lender has ideas of its own that mightfurther improve the profits, and so it too, engages in its own a “whatif” process utilizing device 2 to change some of the predictive modelparameters selected by the grower. In this manner, the lender as well asthe grower, is able to satisfy itself that certain risks have beenaccounted for using the predictive modeling tool, and it happily advisesthe grower that it can make the loan.

Example 5—Variable Rate Pesticidal Application

In this prophetic example, a grower desires to apply a pesticidalcompound to his seed-based agricultural product in a manner that appliesit where it is needed but does not apply it where it is not needed.Utilizing the device 2, the grower maintains an agricultural pedigreefor the agricultural product grown on his farm. In this example, thedevice 2 includes the capability for the grower to define one or more ofhis own grid designation units, which user definable unit may be hisentire farm or one or more sub portions, such as one or more fields,within his farm. By combining the agricultural pedigree of the device 2with the user definable grid designation unit, the grower can use anycombination of historical data, real time data, predictive modeling andcombinations thereof to ascertain which section within the griddesignation unit need the application of the pesticidal compound. Whilethe methodology for obtaining this data is not limiting to theinvention, it can include visual identifications, physical samplingand/or testing, aerial observations, satellite observations, sensorspresent on or around or otherwise in proximity to the field, andcombinations thereof. The user defined grid designation unit can be userdefined by latitude and longitude coordinates, by graphical userinterface, by satellite or other mapping technology or combinationsthereof, or any other technology that allows the user to select a userdefined grid designation unit. Upon ascertaining which areas within theuser defined grid are in need of the pesticidal compound, thisinformation is made part of the agricultural pedigree of the device 2,and is communicated via wireless computer technology, cell phonetechnology or any similar technology to a device for variably and/orselectively applying the pesticidal compound within the grid designationunit. Such a device might be, for example, the modern technologicallyadvanced tractor, which can then use that information in combinationwith its spraying equipment and global positioning technology to deliverthe pesticidal compound in a variable fashion within the griddesignation unit where it is needed, and to stop such application withinthe grid designation unit where it is not needed.

Example 6—Variable Harvesting

In this prophetic example, a grower desires to harvest his seed-basedagricultural product in a manner that allows him to harvest that portionof his agricultural product which is ready for harvesting, but to leavein the field that portion which must mature further before harvesting.Utilizing the device 2, the grower maintains an agricultural pedigreefor the agricultural product grown on his farm. In this example, thedevice 2 includes the capability for the grower to define one or more ofhis own grid designation units, which user definable grid designationunit may be his entire farm or one or more sub portions, such as one ormore fields, within his farm. By combining the agricultural pedigree ofthe device 2 with the user definable grid, designation unit, the growercan use any combination of historical data, real time data, predictivemodeling and combinations thereof to ascertain which section within thegrid designation unit contains agricultural product ready forharvesting. While the methodology for obtaining this data is notlimiting to the invention, it can include visual identifications,physical sampling and/or testing, aerial observations, satelliteobservations, sensors present on or around or otherwise in proximity tothe field, and combinations thereof. The user defined grid designationunit can be user defined by latitude and longitude coordinates, bygraphical user interface, by satellite or other mapping technology orcombinations thereof, or any other technology that allows the user toselect a user defined grid designation unit. Upon ascertaining whichareas within the user defined grid are ready for harvesting, thisinformation is made part of the agricultural pedigree of the device 2,and is communicated via wireless computer technology, cell phonetechnology or any similar technology to a device for variably harvestingthe agricultural product within the grid designation unit. Such a devicemight be, for example, the modern technologically advanced tractor,which can then use that information in combination with its harvestingequipment and global positioning technology to deliver harvest theagricultural product in a variable fashion within the grid designationunit and to avoid harvesting within the grid designation unit where thecrop must further mature for optimum yield or other results.

While particular embodiments have been described, alternatives,modifications, variations, improvements, and substantial equivalentsthat are or may be presently unforeseen may arise to applicants orothers skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims as filed,and as they may be amended, are intended to embrace all suchalternatives, modifications, variations, improvements, and substantialequivalents. Further, the recited order of processing elements orsequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designationstherefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes to any orderexcept as may be specified in the claims. There are many alternatives tothe present invention that are within the scope of the broad teachingsof this invention. The full scope and content of the present inventionis defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for confirming standard compliance forat least one agricultural product using an agricultural pedigree foreach agricultural product comprising the steps of: a) Providing aninformation storage device adapted to receive input of data for eachagricultural product relating to at least one of the agriculturalproduct's production, harvesting, distribution, processing andconsumption; b) Inputting data into the information storage device; c)Storing said data; d) Maintaining an agricultural pedigree data for eachagricultural product utilizing at least a portion of the data; and e)Evaluating compliance of each agricultural product with preexistingstandards in accordance with predefined standard requirements using theagricultural pedigree data for each agricultural product.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1 further including the step of coordinatinglyorchestrating at least one of the production, harvesting, distribution,processing and consumption of the agricultural product via an opencommunication network accessing the storage data device.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the step of evaluating compliance of theagricultural product with preexisting standards further includes thestep of evaluating a sustainability measurement for the agriculturalproduct according to predefined sustainability parameters, andoptionally assigning it a sustainability rating based upon asustainability scale.
 4. The method according to claim 1 wherein thestep of evaluating compliance of the agricultural product withpreexisting standards further includes the steps of accessing andpredicting at least one measurement of the agricultural productincluding a sustainability measurement, a profitability measurement, awater usage measurement, a carbon footprint measurement, a riskmanagement measurement and an energy measurement.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the step of inputting the data into theinformation storage device includes inputting one or morecontemporaneous inputs into over time throughout at; least one of theproduction, harvesting, distribution, processing and consumption of theagricultural product.
 6. The method according to claim 1 furthercomprising the step of allowing access to the information storage deviceto at least one of an agricultural product producer, harvester,packager, transporter, processor, distributor, and consumer, andcommunication between at least two of said agricultural productproducer, harvester, packager, transporter, processor, distributor andconsumer.
 7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the inputtingincludes automated contemporaneous uploading of inputs from farmequipment engaged in the production of each of the agriculturalproducts.
 8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the automatedcontemporaneous uploading of inputs from farm equipment engaged in theproduction of the agricultural product includes at least one input frommobile metering device on board the farm equipment.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the step of evaluating compliance of theagricultural product with preexisting standards further includes thesteps of calculating a sustainability measurement for each product,including at least one of a water usage measurement, a carbon footprintmeasurement, and an energy measurement.
 10. The method according toclaim 1 wherein the step of evaluating compliance of the agriculturalproduct with preexisting standards further includes the steps ofcalculating a water usage measurement for each product.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the step of evaluating compliance of theagricultural product with preexisting standards further includes thesteps of calculating a carbon footprint measurement for each product.12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of evaluatingcompliance of the agricultural product with preexisting standardsfurther includes the steps of calculating a energy usage measurement foreach product.
 13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step ofevaluating compliance of the agricultural product with preexistingstandards further includes the steps of calculating a sustainabilitymeasurement for each product, wherein the step of evaluating asustainability measurement for the agricultural product is at least partof at least one of the real time decision making tool and the predictivemodeling tool.
 14. An agricultural pedigree system for at least oneagricultural product comprising an open communication network accessibleinformation storage device adapted to receive input of data relating toagricultural product production and distribution from at least one andpreferably from multiple sources and configured for evaluatingcompliance of the agricultural product with preexisting standards inaccordance with predefined standard requirements.
 15. The systemaccording to claim 14 wherein the system is configured to coordinatinglyorchestrate at least one of the production, harvesting, distribution,processing and consumption of the agricultural product via the opencommunication network.
 16. The system according to claim 14 wherein thesystem is configured to evaluate a sustainability measurement for theagricultural product according to predefined sustainability parameters,and optionally, assigning it a sustainability rating based upon asustainability scale.
 17. The system according to claim 14 wherein thesystem is configured to access and predict at least one measurement ofthe agricultural product including a sustainability measurement, aprofitability measurement, a water usage measurement, a carbon footprintmeasurement, a risk management measurement and an energy measurement.18. The system according to claim 14 wherein the system is configuredfor automated contemporaneous uploading of inputs from farm equipmentengaged in the production of each of the agricultural products.
 19. Thesystem according to claim 18 wherein system is configures wherein theautomated contemporaneous uploading of inputs from farm equipmentengaged in the production of the agricultural product includes at leastone input from mobile metering device on board the farm equipment.
 20. Amethod for establishing an agricultural pedigree for at least oneagricultural product comprising: a) Providing an open communicationnetwork accessible information storage device adapted to receive inputof data relating to at least one of the agricultural product'sproduction, harvesting, distribution, processing and consumption from atleast one and preferably from multiple sources; b) Inputting said datainto said information storage device; c) Storing said data; d) Providingaccess to at least a portion of said data via the open communicationnetwork, wherein the information storage device is configured to be usedas at least one of a real time decision making tool and a predictivemodeling tool; and e) Evaluating a sustainability measurement for theagricultural product according to predefined sustainability parameters,and assigning it a sustainability rating based upon a sustainabilityscale.